The Simplicity of Eternity
by DanielNieves
Summary: The sequel to the Bliss of Death fic. Two years have past since Lucas left Peyton and his past behind. Time has passed and Lucas is convinced to return to Tree Hill. LP and OCxBrooke. Complete.
1. Prologue

The Simplicity of Eternity

A One Tree Hill Fanfiction

By: Daniel Nieves

Prologue: Fast to Get Furious

A/N: In case you don't know yet, this is the sequel to my one shot, the Bliss of Death, the Suffering of Life. Pairings will be Leyton, OCxBrooke and Naley. We'll see.

I

March 12, 2006

It had been two years, two months and six days since he left Tree Hill, North Carolina. Not one day since he'd left came by that he didn't regret it. He regretted leaving all of them behind, his family that was left, or that he left_ her_. She had confessed her love to him as she thought she was dying, and kissed him, only for a month later for them to sleep with each other for the first time, and him leaving the morning after, squealing the tires of his 1967 Mustang as he hauled ass and left North Carolina.

He had almost returned once he stopped grieving, it was so tempting it had been palpable, to just go and head back to the place that had robbed him of his mother Karen Roe, and of his father, Keith Scott.

Sliding on his leather jacket, the blond contemplated his last night with Peyton, the lip bruising kisses, the slow, arduous lovemaking. He sat there on the hood of his car, ignoring the unusually briskly night in Jacksonville, Florida, smoking away at a Newport, wishing he could just forget it all. He hadn't liked smoking, ever, it was a disgusting habit. But his best friend Jose "Jaime" Gines had gotten him into it, claiming at times it made life easier.

Talking of his best friend, Lucas could hear him in the background, his 2005 Mustang roaring away through Old St. Augustine road to get to his house. The Flowmaster pipes on his Mustang were intimidating for sure, scaring away most rice burners that even looked his way.

Lucas could see his headlights and then there was a squeal of tires as his best friend slammed the brakes and squealed the tires into the turn's entry. The sleek black Mustang pulled up, white racing stripes only emphasizing its authenticity.

"You know the neighbors bitch about you?" Lucas asked morosely as Jaime hopped out of the driver's seat.

"Fuck those old bastards…meh." Jaime replied softly, grin lighting up his face. It was the day before his birthday, and they were going to go out to Teranova, an upscale club off of Phillip's Highway.

Lucas had gone for casual in a pair of light blue Wrangler jeans, black dress shoes, and a black H&M button up epaulette shirt. Jaime had dressed up for once, he considered Lucas clothes 'white boy' attire, and stuck what brand names he knew best. Rocawear, Red Monkey, and whatever he felt like.

Today he was wearing loose, light blue H&M jeans and an H&M black, short sleeved epaulette shirt. Rather than wearing dance shoes and conforming like a white boy he decided to wear black Air Force One low tops. "You about ready to go?" Lucas asked and when Jaime nodded he continued, "Which car?"

"Mines, we tryna pick up some hoes tonight bruh, we ain't tryna pick up some grease monkeys." Jaime replied with a laugh.

Lucas couldn't help but chuckle, though afterward he felt a pang in his chest. He and Keith had been grease monkeys long ago. Brushing away the pain with a forced grin, he flicked away his cigarette to the side and walked up to his best friend giving him a handshake and a man hug. "Come on boss, let's go."

"You need to be a good wingman tonight. I'm tryna be balls deep by twelve o'clock so no bullshitting." Jaime spoke, pushing away Lucas with a soft shove.

"You tryna be back home by twelve?" Lucas asked, surprised.

"Hell nah, I'll pipe one of these hoes in the car or something, I'm tryna get fucked up, it's the Kang's birthday after all." Jaime shot back, making Lucas chuckle once more.

Whenever Jaime was happy, he always referred to himself in third person as the 'Kang'. His demeanor changed, and he had more arrogance in his swag.

"Man, you're nuts Jaime." Lucas replied, opening the door to Jaime's Mustang and climbing in. Inside the pony car was all black leather seats and a Shaker 1000 system. Jaime cranked the ignition and throttled the gas, letting the 4.0L engine roar once again. "Take it easy jackass." Lucas warned, already imagining the old lady across the street bitching.

"I'm sorry, but the Kang always delivers hard, never easy." Jaime replied, shifting it into drive and roaring down the street. True to Lucas' word, the old lady next door was shaking her cane at them. If they saw her, they probably didn't care.

As they cruised 9-A, Lucas got nostalgic. He remembered the first time he met Jaime, he had thought he was just some thug wannabe until Jaime had saved his ass. Lucas had flirted with some beautiful Cuban that night and her boyfriend hadn't taken it too well. He'd been about to shoot Lucas until Jaime stepped up and cold cocked him with a Yagermeister bottle.

He had shoved Lucas out of the door and into his Mustang, a year and a half ago, and life had changed for the two of them. After hanging out he saw things you never could understand about Jaime from the first sight. He had wanted to be a basketball player, a musician, a writer, and had been working on his first novel, albeit high as fuck, but he and Lucas had so much in common that they had gotten along quick.

But they had their differences.

Jaime had joined the Navy and became a helicopter pilot after his ex-fiancee told him she was pregnant. A year down the road she admitted it wasn't his. He'd gotten out on a medical discharge, received fat checks from the Navy on a monthly basis, but he too had been grieving for a woman. For him, the wrong one. So the next year he spent it drinking his nights away, smoking weed and trying to pick up 'hoes'.

Some people grieved differently. Some cried, some fucked.

Who was he to judge?

Rather than bumping some down South rap, he listened to Avenged Sevenfold's City of Evil on the way to the club. Another surprising thing about him, he loved all kinds of music, except country. That and he used to be a good ol' church drummer.

Lucas and Jaime had spent the better part of the last year drinking, smoking, and street racing.

The fastest way to make money.

As they drove, they listened to Avenged's 'Seize the Day' and the blare of guitars made them both forget about their pasts and instead focus on the present.

The future could wait.

After pulling into Teranova, watching with smirks as women whistled as they drove as slowly as possible into their parking space, they were content with life, with the money they made and both figured nothing would change, not life and not their friendship.

They were wrong about the first part.

After rolling up the windows on the black pinstriped Mustang, they stepped out into the Jacksonville nightlife, ready to take the world as theirs. "Ready to race a real car, pretty boy?" Someone shouted from across the lot.

It was some Floridian redneck in a beat up 1994 Dodge Cummins. "Yeah, come holla at me when you fix that up." Jaime shot back, irritating the driver.

Lucas had to laugh at that.

Both of them pulled out their fake ID's, seeing as they were both twenty and headed to the bouncer. The bouncer was a big, stocky African American by the name of Jeremiah, who recognized them immediately. "What's up Jaime and Lucas, here again?" Jeremiah asked, clasping both their hands for a brief handshake.

"How's it going Jeremiah?" Lucas asked warmly.

"Same ol' bullshit mayne. Hey I'm telling you mayne, a whole scoop of dem rich bitches be in there, more of your type Luke." Jeremiah spoke, causing Jaime to chuckle.

"What's that 'pose to mean, bruh? That's fucked up." Jaime replied, clapping the bouncer on the back.

The two friends headed inside the club, pushing their way through a pair of emo posers, and trying to find their way to the bar. Lucas' occasional booty call worked their on the weekends, and while the chemistry was there, she could never fill the Peyton sized hole in his chest.

"Hey babe, what can I get for you?" Lisa "Pocahontas" Johnson asked. She was a sight to take in, half white, half Native American, 36 D's, long legs, long back length hair. All accentuated by ruby lips and caramel colored skin and raven hair.

"Hey Lisa. Can I get a Heineken?" Lucas asked and she brought one to him.

"On the house." She mouthed to him, giving him a wide smile.

She was beautiful, but she was older than he was. She was 36 to his 20, but he could look past that if it weren't for Peyton. She had clawed her way into his heart and seared his flesh, marking him as hers. She had burned herself into his mind like a ghostly imprint, ready to pop out in his dreams and remind him of what he left behind.

He turned to see what his best friend wanted only to find out that he was already gone, amidst all the other lonely people, dancing their desperation away in an attempt to prove their existence. Grabbing his cold beer of choice, he decided to sit on the bar and make idle chit chat with his repeated summer fling.

"Keep staring and I might take you to the back and fuck you Luke." Lisa shot at him as his gaze lingered on her thighs.

He'd always been a leg man.

Especially after Peyton.

"You should." Lucas replied, bringing the beer to his lips and taking a sip. Pulling out a pack of Newports out of his pocket, he brought it up to his lips and Lisa lit it for him. Taking a deep drag of the vicious cancer stick, he blew the smoke out of his nose as he remembered Jaime telling him to be a better wingman.

Which was kinda true.

Most nights he sat at the bar drinking the night away thinking about his parent's death, or thinking of her, of what they could have had. It was nights like those that inspired his newly release of 'The Unkindness of the Ravens', a four hundred pager of what he felt for her, and everything that led up to it.

It was a big hit, he'd already made six figures off of it. His editor Lindsay was begging him for a sequel. But what could he write about with no Peyton in it?

Thoughts like those made him want to hop into his '67 Mustang and tear up I-95 to see her. But what if she had moved on, he couldn't picture another man doing what he did to her, kissing her lips, it made his stomach revolt in ways he didn't like.

Standing up from the bar after finishing his cigarette, he headed over to the group of girls that Jaime found at the moment fascinating. Wrapping his arm around Jaime's neck, he asked, "Come on the Kang, care to introduce me?" Lucas asked.

Jaime turned his head to Lucas and gave him a knowing smile. "Yeah bruh, this is Ashley and this is Jessica." Jaime replied, giving Lucas the eye glare that told him he was going to fuck the leggy brunette called Jessica.

Lucas gave him the nod, telling him he understood him.

Nope, life never changed.

An hour later, Jaime surprised Lucas for the first time in months. "You know what mayne, let's call this an early night." Jaime spoke, guzzling the rest of the Corona he had.

"Huh, picture me confused." Lucas replied.

"Look, I know it's all about me cuz of the birthday bit and all that, but I can't tell you weren't really having fun with ol' girl over there. Not that I blame you, shawty was hot, but that bitch was dumber than a bag of hot rocks." Jaime said as they walked out of the club.

"Gone already." Jeremiah called out from behind.

"Yeah, not really feeling it." Jaime shot back, giving him the deuce.

"She wasn't that dumb." Lucas offered, climbing into the Mustang after Jaime unlocked the doors.

"She was. She prolly didn't even know she had a vagina until she had it popped." Jaime replied, lighting up a Newport after lowering the windows.

"Well, what do you want to do, it's your birthday in about two minutes?" Lucas asked.

"You don't wanna know." Jaime spoke after a moment's pause.

"Yeah, I do, I'm your best friend bro." Lucas replied, but then continued, "Except that, I don't have the necessary female parts for that one." Lucas said grinning, earning a laugh from Jaime.

"Look boss, we've been doing this clubbing bit for the last year. I've fucked all kinds of hoes and you've had a couple. What I'm saying is that this shit is boring, and I want something more. I say we leave Jacksonville behind, at least for a bit." Jaime responded after a second.

"And go where?" Lucas asked incredulously.

"Does it matter? Luke, your pockets are fat and we know dat, and you know my pockets is pretty fat too. Does it matter?" Jaime said begrudgingly.

"Kind of." Lucas said noncommittedly.

"I want to go to Tree Hill." Jaime said, flicking his cigarette into the dark abyss of the night.

"What!?" Lucas shouted out.

"Listen here, bruh. I want to know what it was like, I've read your book you know, the day it came out and a few times after that. I want to see it, I've dreamed about meeting the people you once knew. I want to see the chick that's had your balls for the last two years and you didn't even know it, and possibly get my balls inside that Brooke chick…" Jaime left the sentence hanging.

"You're nuts, there's a reason I left." Lucas growled out.

"If you're looking for reasons not to go back, there are plenty of them. But by going back, you might get plenty of reasons to stay. Who knows, I wanna find out, there's got to be more to life than this bruh." Jaime said.

Lucas thought about it, his stomach getting giddy at the thought of seeing everybody again.

"Fuck it, you're right. I knew there's a reason you're my best friend." Lucas said contemplatively. "But if shit goes downhill, we dip out of there." Lucas warned.

Life had changed, and they didn't even know it.

II

Peyton Sawyer looked at her daughter Sawyer Brooke Scott who laid there sleeping in her bed. She wasn't even a year and a half yet, but still the most beautiful thing she'd ever laid her green eyes on. Blond, curly ringlets with baby blue eyes.

_His_ eyes.

She hated him, she knew he did.

He condemned her to a life of solitude after knocking her up and leaving her. No man wanted her during the pregnancy, and wanted none of them after. No one could compare in her eyes to him, to her image of him.

Lucas Scott was on a pedestal.

Even if she wanted nothing more than to knock it down in a fit of rage, he was up there alright.

How dare he touch her the way he had if he didn't love her? How dare he leave her after he did?

Two years did little to change the turmoil in her heart. She had been untouched by a man since he left his proverbial scars on her. She hadn't wanted anyone but him, even now. Then he had to go and make a book about it, and she got sucked up into that world, a world in which life was easy. A book in which he laid out exactly how much he loved her and how he couldn't move on without her, yet he still hadn't shown up.

Did he even love her anymore?

Not that it mattered, she was too busy in life to think about love.

With raising Sawyer, running her own music label, and fighting off the men of Tree Hill, she'd been too caught up in life to think of him much.

Until she read the fucking book like an idiot.

Life wouldn't change, she'd stay all alone like she had the last two years. Brooke had become a huge fashion designer and got rich. Haley got back into music and Nathan continued his basketball career, and their son Jaime got caught in the middle.

Especially after the divorce.

Haley was too into music, and Nathan was too much into basketball.

Haley had been signed to Warner Bros, and Nathan had been drafted in his junior year of college to the Chicago Bulls. To them he was the next Michael Jordan, and he sucked it all in, making millions in the process.

She hadn't known what Lucas had done over the last two years, just that he made the novel, but she did wonder at times.

She would hate him for a bit.

But she'd always love him.

The simplicity of eternity.

A/N: End of prologue, you see how I'm setting everything up in Tree Hill. Lucas and Jaime are coming up, and so much has happened, how will he deal? How will Peyton react when she sees him? What has Skills and Mouth been up to? What about Dan?

Next Time on TSOE:

"_You think I've forgotten, Lucas?" Peyton screamed hysterically at him._

"_You could of told me." Lucas shot back angrily._

"_Just like you told me you were leaving, oh yeah you didn't." Peyton replied sarcastically, before turning around and walking away._

"_Peyton, wait please."_

"_Fuck you Lucas Scott."_


	2. 1 Sing for Absolution

The Simplicity of Eternity

Chapter Two: Sing for Absolution

A/N: So I'm guessing you guys don't like this fic too much since I only got a few reviews. That's fine and understandable. I might continue this fic when I get back from Puerto Rico, but if you hate Jaime Gines, that sucks because he's going to be a recurring character and plays a major role. Though the story does focus most on LucasxPeyton, there will be side pairings.

I

Lips are turning blue  
A kiss that can't renew  
I only dream of you  
My beautiful

Cities were merely a blur for them. The shark nosed Mustang tore through I-95, flying across and passing cars as if they were standing still. Savannah, Georgia was an easy cruise, and they drove through South Carolina for what felt like five hours, but it was really three and some change and finally they ended up in North Carolina. They had just passed Charlotte which was approximately two hours away from their destination.

Their ride was pretty uneventful but interesting as Jaime sing songed 'I'm so gonna bang Brooke Davis.'

They paused outside a rest stop in Wilmington and got out of the car to stretch their legs out. The two friends walked towards the bathroom to take a tinkle, and on the way to the bathroom, Lucas asked Jaime, "So do you want to sleep with Brooke because she's hot and rich, or because you genuinely like how I portrayed her in my book?"

Jaime gave him a knowing look. "Does it matter?" he replied suggestively.

"Kinda, she's a close friend of mine, well at least she was." Lucas responded with a sharp glare.

"Meh…troublesome. I want to sleep with her because she's hot, rich, and I like the way you portrayed her. Not to mention, I subscribed to her magazine B. Davis just to read her editorials." Jaime shot back, opening the door to the bathroom. It reeked of urine and old men. "Look you got that whole thing with Peyton going on, so worry about that. Unless you want to switch?" Jaime asked smirking.

"No… look, I really doubt Peyton and I are going to get back together. Too much history, you know? I just need to see her and see how she's doing. If I was intent on being with her, I would of drove up her too, instead I left my stuff back in Jax because I know I'm not staying in Tree Hill. I'm just coming to satisfy your curiosity and mines as well." Lucas offered doubtfully.

"Whatever, if you say so." Jaime replied grinning. "You never got over her and you know it. That's the only reason you're coming, you want to see her and find some kind of flaw in her so you can stop thinking about her and get over her bruh. How stupid do you think I am?" Jaime asked indignantly.

"Shut up." Lucas shot back, nothing more he can really say to that. He was kind of right after all.

After leaving the rest stop, the two headed off again, jumping onto I-243 heading towards the final destination.

Tree Hill, North Carolina.

One hour and thirty two minutes later they pulled into the town and Jaime and Lucas took it all in. Jaime was more awed though, having never been there, and having never been in anything other than a large metropolis area. Lucas was in awe because he hadn't been home in so long and memories were running rampant through his head. They passed up TRIC and he thought of all the nights he spent with his friends, watching Haley perform, Peyton after Ellie's death and the charity concert they'd thrown.

It all came back in a rush that almost left him breathless.

Then they passed the River Court and he remembered his battles with Nathan, how he had aspired to be a basketball player, literally growing up on the court with Skills, Mouth, and _Jimmy_.

Thinking about him left a bad taste in his mouth, and he knew he had to go to the cemetery. He had to see his parents, he hadn't seen them in so long.

"Hey Jaime, stop at the cemetery real quick, I kind of need a moment." Lucas spoke, and once he arrived, he stepped out of the car and walking over to the place he buried his mother and surrogate father Keith Scott.

Once Jaime was out of sight leaving him to his moment, Lucas broke down, finally alone. Tears streamed from his eyes and down his cheeks as memories of that horrid day tormented his consciousness, making him feel like he was to blame for going back into the school. If he hadn't gone back in for Peyton, Keith would have been alive and so would his mother by default.

He would have never left Tree Hill and he would have been with Peyton and everything would have been okay and these last two years wouldn't have been so bad. "Why'd you have to die?" Lucas asked, kneeling in front of their graves.

In life they died next to each other, so it was only fitting they were buried next to each other in death. He traced his mother's tombstone, reading the words he himself had asked to be engraved.

_"Karen Roe, a strong woman, a stronger mother who defied odds in life even into her death."_

He looked at Keith's grave and sobbed. He missed him more than anyone would know. It had been Keith who held him as a kid when he was scared, who taught him basketball, who had given him the world that Dan hadn't.

_"Keith Scott, beloved brother, uncle, father. A man truly worth the love and honor received, he will be missed by all."_

His throat felt so tight and constricted, his tears flowing loosely as he bent his head onto the cement tombstone, his tears splattering the words and the earth in which Keith was under. He stomach revolted and he wanted to throw up.

How dare he run away like a coward, and not visit them in two years?

Keith would be ashamed to call him his son…

Drying his eyes on his sleeve, he sat there looking forlorn and lost. His cell vibrated in his pocket and he picked it up to see a text from Jaime.

_Take all the time you need mane. I'll be at the river court._

Silently thanking his best friend for knowing him so well, Lucas Scott cried, he cried until he couldn't anymore, and for the first time in a while, he felt good. Perhaps returning to Tree Hill wasn't as bad as he'd thought.

Tip toe to your room  
A starlight in the gloom  
I only dream of you  
And you never knew

II

Sing for absolution  
I will be singing  
And falling from your grace  
ooh

Jaime finished wrapping the blunt in his hand, licking the side to keep it together, grabbing a light and sealing it. The zippo's blue flame licked at the front of the blunt, and smoke and THC flooded his system. Holding the smoke in his chest as long as he could, he promptly exhaled it and coughed, the THC already running rampant in his brain.

"Goddamn, I hope they ain't got no bullshit dirt up here." Jaime commented to himself, feeling a weird buzz licking at his body, and fought the urge to smile.

"Hey man are you crazy or what?" Someone called out and Jaime turned around, his blood red eyes taking in the person calling out to him. He was about his height, black, and bald. He was attired in black basketball shorts, a pair of Jordans and a loose fitting tank top.

"What's it to you, bruh?" Jaime shot back, mildly irritated at the intrusion. He was hoping to be left alone in his thoughts, to think of his past, and the mistakes he'd made in life. Life really wasn't fair, and neither was his ex-fiancée. She had fucking ruined him, destroying his heart, several all ties to intimacy and commitment for Jaime.

"Bro, you know that's illegal right?" the guy continued, and Jaime's irritation grew.

"No shit, what's the point already?" Jaime snapped, frustrated at the man's insistence.

"Hey man, don't cop an attitude, I'm just telling you, you might want to be careful where you smoke that stuff around here."

"You must be the whitest black guy I've ever met. Lemme guess, you that token cat right? Do you potna, and let me do me." Jaime spat, before killing the joint, not wanting to attract any more attention to him.

"Hey bro, I ain't no token puppet for no one. I'm doing me, so how about you put your money where your mouth is and we play a game, or are you too high for that?" the guy asked. He then turned around and called out behind him. "Hey Mouth, gather up everybody, I want to disgrace this guy in front of everyone."

Now Jaime was pissed. Who was this bastard to be talking shit when he didn't even know him to be making claims like that? "Hey on the real bruh, as high as I am, you still couldn't score more then six to my eleven." Jaime shot back. "Feel free to warm up homeboy." Jaime called before walking towards his parked car.

"Hey where you going?" he called out.

"Changing." Jaime shot back before popping the trunk to his Mustang. Slipping out of his jeans, he already had basketball shorts underneath. He'd been wanting to take Lucas on, but he could deal with this guy first. He took off his AF-1's and put on a pair of black Nike Shox. He was already wearing a short sleeved Avenged Sevenfold shirt, before heading back up to the court, in his hands two hundred dollars.

Once his temporary rival saw the cash, his eyes widened. "You gonna put up two hundred on a game of basketball, I was talking more like forty, homey."

"Whatever." Jaime replied. "If you win, you get the two hundred, if I win you leave me alone to smoke wherever I please, neighborhood watchdog. What is your fuckin' name by the way?" Jaime asked.

"It's Skills. You?" Skills asked.

A light of realization popped up in Jaime's face. "Jaime Gines. So you Skills, one of Lucas' homeboys, right?" Jaime asked. A few people gathered up on the court to watch them play. They sat on the bench and waited patiently for the newcomer to get his ass kicked.

"I used to. I don't fuck with that punk ass coward no mo'. How you know Lucas anyway, you read his book or something?" Skills growled out.

"Nah, he my best friend so I suggest you don't call him a coward in my presence." Jaime growled back.

"You friends with Lucas Scott, right?" Skills shot back doubtfully. "You must be one of them ol' Stan ass cats." He stated and everyone laughed at Jaime, chuckling at Skills' joke.

"I am, you'll see him in a minute. Come on fuckboy, you think I'm really from this dump. Just shoot for ball and let's play." Jaime replied defensively, a little irritated. Him…Lucas' stan, hell to the nah.

Skills glared at his for a second before shooting a three pointer and sinking it with a swish. "My ball, bruh." He shot at him, making fun of his accent, accentuating the slang.

"Whatever." Jaime locked eyes with his opponent before passing him the ball. They checked it up and Skills dribbled for a second, before jumping to take another three pointer. Jaime read his movements and jumped into the air after him, swatting the ball as Skills released it, then snatching it away from him.

"Fluke." Skills replied, a determined look on his face.

Jaime smiled and then began dribbling the ball between his legs, Skills went for the steal, but Jaime braked and crossed him over by faking then moving to the right. Using all the speed and agility he could muster, he sprinted to the free throw line, before leaping into the air. In mid air he slid the ball between his legs, then spun around and dunked in reverse.

"One." Jaime spoke arrogantly, pissing off Skills.

"You got lucky."

After they checked it up Jaime sunk a three pointer, then three more after that. "Lucky, right?" Jaime drawled sarcastically.

Skills maintained the defense and Jaime used his upper body strength to keep him at bay, before shooting a turnaround fade away jumper. The ball bounced off the backboard and into the basket easily. "Ten. Zip."

After checking up again, he drove it to the hoop, Skills on him the entire time. They leapt into the air at the same, and Skills tried his best to block it, but rather than dunking, Jaime switched the ball to his left hand laying a reverse layup that Skills couldn't block. "Game." Jaime called out and Skills glared at him with all the hate he could muster.

"We all get good days and bad days." He offered as an excuse.

"Making friends already Jaime?" a voice called out and Lucas walked out onto the River Court.

"Not really, he pissed me off." Jaime replied truthfully.

"'Sup Skills?" Lucas asked, giving his old friend a nod. He extended his hand and Skills looked at it like it was poisoned or something.

"We ain't even cool like that, so get out my face." Skills spat at him.

Lucas knew people would be disgruntled at him for leaving, but the glare Skills sent him was full of scathing hate. "Damn, that's how it is?" Lucas asked.

"Yeah it is." Skills said.

Lucas looked at Mouth and Garbage who looked away, the same hate burning in their eyes. To be honest, Lucas felt like Jesus walking down Jerusalem, carrying the cross on his back as people hated him for things they didn't understand.

"Aight, y'all take care." Lucas replied, before lighting up a cigarette. "Told you this place was a dump." Lucas added to Jaime.

"Meh." Jaime replied, bored.

"It's a Saturday, we could check out the TRIC club in a few hours." Lucas offered.

"Hell yeah, Peyton works their right?" Jaime asked.

"Yeah, why?" Lucas asked.

"Cuz this shit is fina be interestin'. It's gonna be like something of dem white people shows." Jaime replied excited.

"Fuck you too." Lucas replied good naturedly.

Jaime didn't mean what he said, he usually cracked jokes to lighten the mood. In the beginning his jokes were so raunchy and politically wrong that he didn't want to hang with him in public, but he had calmed down after a bit.

"Bitch ass hoe." Jaime said smirking.

"Can we go back to Jacksonville?" Lucas pleaded.

"Nope. My car, my rules." Jaime snickered at Lucas' dismay.

"When can we leave?" Lucas asked.

"Right after I bang Brooke…" Jaime responded and Lucas laughed. His best friend was really intent on seducing Brooke Davis.

"You're a dick."

"I have one, thank you." Jaime said smirking, before wrapping his arm around Lucas' neck.

"Dude you stink." Lucas commented, shoving Jaime away.

"Meh, I do gotta shower though. My balls must smell like salt and vinegar chips and we can't have that can we?" Jaime deadpanned.

Lucas fell over laughing and didn't get up for a while.

III

Haley James was about to prepare to hit the road when a text message stopped her in her tracks. Upon feeling the phone vibrate against her thigh, she pulled it out and looked to see who it was. It was Skills, her old friend from Tree Hill, and a surrogate uncle to Jaime, her son. Opening up the text message, she nearly dropped the phone when she saw it.

**_Hales, Luke is back in town. Brought some pothead for company. Don't know how long he'll be in town. _**

**_Skills_**

She had to fight the angry tears that threatened to rise from her eyes. Luke was back in town after a two year disappearance, the nerve of that bastard. She wasn't sure which Scott brother she hated more, Lucas or Nathan, but both of them pissed her off.

But then again, Nathan would be number one on her blacklist. Between his self righteous rage for Haley wanting to continue her career as a singer while he pursued his basketball dreams and played for the Chicago Bulls. That was some bullshit. Not to mention he hooked up with her older sister again when she saw him at a game against the Atlanta Hawks. She'd rub it in Nathan's face that Lucas had returned. Opening up a new message box, she began typing a short message for her ex husband.

**_Jackass, Lucas is back in Tree Hill. You should go see your prodigal brother's returned. You should go see him fuckface. When was the last time you saw your niece Sawyer? _**

**_Haley_**

Nathan didn't take long to reply.

**_Go kill yourself you miserable bitch. I couldn't give a shit if that bastard's back. Crawl up and die next to Chris Keller or whoever you're fucking nowadays._**

**_Nathan_**

Yup, Nathan was her number one, but Lucas came in a close second. Punching in a number in the phone's pad, she quickly got a hold of tour director and asked him not to set her up with any tour dates for the upcoming weeks. She was gonna take a vacation after all.

IV

Fucking bitch…Nathan thought to himself as he finally sent his ex wife the reply message. Nathan tossed his phone carelessly to the side, and grabbed the Spalding basketball and continued warming up. He had a game tonight against the Los Angeles Lakers and he had one Kobe Bryant to show up in the Chi-town.

As he launched his jump shot, watching the ball arc in the air and go in with a swish, he didn't really know what to think of Lucas' reappearance. It had been two years since he had left, completely grief stricken over Keith and Karen's death. He hadn't blamed him for leaving to grieve, but he had held resentment for Lucas not coming back. It had been hard on them, winning the State Championship without him, and if there was one person he wanted to share that moment with, it would have been with Lucas and Whitey.

Whitey had retired after that Raven's season and had disappeared to Florida to life his miserable life alone.

"Hey sexy…" a voice called out, and Nathan's blue orbs swiveled to the source. It was the woman he lost his virginity to, and his ex- sister in law, Taylor Scott.

"Hn." Nathan grunted noncommittally.

Taylor swayed over to him, wrapping her arms around his neck, before pressing her lips to his. "Come on, let's get you sweaty for other reasons." Taylor beckoned, and Nathan complied, before fucking her in the middle of his private basketball court.

An hour later, he got rid of her, sending her on her way, seeing as he had other things to worry about.

He honestly thanked God he only had one more year left with the Bulls before he became a Free Agent. Despite his average of 32 points per game, the Bulls were still behind in the conference with a horrible record of 25-42. But as long as he could get his shine on, wipe the floor with Kobe tonight, he could get a better team after becoming a Free Agent. The Bulls had a week off next week, perhaps he could afford to see his older brother after all.

V

Jaime had decided to go take a nap while he went and crashed for a bit, high off his rocker and tired from the daunting drive from Florida. He had tossed Lucas his keys and told him to go have fun, passing out at the Tree Hill Inn.

Heeding his friend's advice, Lucas headed out into town, before parking in the downtown square and walking around taking all the sights back in. Stopping at a couple of shops to get something to eat and shopping for a few articles of clothing.

He saw a black SUV, a Chevy Tahoe pull over next to him and the man Lucas hadn't wanted to see stepped out, it was Dan Scott.

"Fuck me in the ass." Lucas grumbled under his breath.

"Luke, is that really you son?" Dan asked, concern marring his voice.

"That or you've stole Deb's prescriptions." Luke fired back, continuing to walk forward and ignoring his biological father.

"Wait, I want to talk to you." Dan called out, chasing after him.

Lucas came to a halt, rather than try to avoid his father. The man had connects after all. "What do you want Dan?" Lucas bit off as gracefully as his irritation would let him.

"Don't be that way. Would you like to grab a cup of coffee, son?" Dan asked.

"Will you leave me alone afterwards if I do?" Lucas asked, impatience getting the best of him.

Dan nodded and clasped his son on the shoulder before leading him to his late mother's café. Lucas figured Dan would have been egotistical and changed the name, but he hadn't. He had chosen to honor his mother in a way that Lucas hadn't in his cowardice. "You run the place now?" Lucas asked and Dan nodded stiffly.

"Yeah, I got a few girls as waitresses, but I basically do a lot of the other work. There was this family who moved to Tree Hill after losing it all due to Hurricane Katrina and we've been doing our best to take care of them." Dan replied.

"You doing charity work?" Lucas asked skeptically.

"Fair enough." Dan said nodding. "What have you been up to these last two years?" Dan asked mildly.

"Wrote a novel, got rich and nothing after that. Figured it was time to come home." Lucas added.

"So do you know about…" Dan was cut short by a mirthful interruption.

"Lucas Scott, the dick behind the legend." Lucas turned around to look into the prettiest green eyes he'd ever laid eyes on.

They belonged to only one girl.

"Peyton Sawyer, how have you been babe?" Lucas asked smirking. He deliberately checked her out, letting his gaze linger over her exposed legs.

She was so beautiful, in green camouflage shorts that came up to her mid thigh and a black tank top that hugged her curves beautifully, doing nothing to hide the soft curves of her breasts. Her hair was short, brushed back and against her neck, she was a goddess of a sight, the perpetual mirage in a desert.

"Hating you, you know the usual." Peyton spat out angrily. There was this fire to her, her bright green eyes alit with a flame he couldn't describe. Her lips curled into a full blown sneer as she regarded him with the disdain she'd regard for a cockroach.

"C'mon Peyt, we had fun didn't we?" Lucas inferred softly, remembering that night long ago. His breath caught in his throat, and he didn't know what to think or what to feel. He was being a dick and he knew it, but he couldn't let her see how she had affected him, she couldn't know that the night they slept together for the first time was so magical, it left him scarred for any woman who came after Peyton.

"We had a lot more than just fun, you dick." Peyton bit off, her eyebrows rising in contempt. "I'm guessing you don't know, lovely." She continued, sneering.

"Actually I was about to tell him." Dan cut in. "You two had a beautiful daughter together."

Lucas looked appalled for a second, his eyes wide and glassy in confusion. "Time out, let's try this again…"

"You and I had a daughter, Scott." Peyton replied waspishly.

"Why the hell didn't you tell me?" Lucas demanded, snarling as he stood up, ire burning in his eyes. "It was supposed to be just one night." Lucas said, running his fingers through his hair.

"You think I've forgotten, Lucas?" Peyton shrieked hysterically at him.

"You could have told me." Lucas shot back angrily.

"Just like you told me you were leaving, oh yeah you didn't." Peyton replied sarcastically, before turning around and walking away.

"Peyton, wait please." Lucas begged.

"Fuck you Lucas Scott." Peyton shot cruelly.

"You'd better go after her son, don't make the same mistake I did." Dan offered, before Lucas took chase after Peyton.

"Can I see her?" Lucas asked desperately.

"Absolutely not. You haven't been here for over two years Lucas. You can't just jump back into my life or Sawyer's life after how you left it." Peyton shot at him.

"You can't leave me hanging like this!!!" Lucas shouted after her.

"I can after all, I learned it from you." Peyton snapped, before heading off, anywhere away from Lucas, and when she disappeared around the corner, she let go and sobbed, spilling tears all over herself.

there's nowhere left to hide  
in no one to confide  
the truth runs deep inside  
and will never die

lips are turning blue  
a kiss that can't renew  
I only dream of you  
my beautiful

sing for absolution  
I will be singing  
falling from your grace

sing for absolution  
I will be singing  
falling from your grace

our wrongs remain unrectified  
and our souls won't be exhume

A/N: No beta, so I'm doing my best with grammar and spelling. Sorry for the wait, I was in Puerto Rico getting drunk. The song Sing for Absolution is by an awesome band called Muse.


	3. 2 He Say, She Say

The Simplicity of Eternity

Chapter Two: He Say She Say

Daniel Nieves

A/N: Slang dictionary is on the bottom.

I can't, I won't, I can't, I won't let you leave,

I don't know what you want, you want more from me

I

Lucas entered the hotel room, before slamming the door shut with a loud crash, causing Jaime to jump up and look suspiciously. "What the bloody fuck is wrong wit ya?" Jaime demanded, sitting upright in the modest bed, giving Lucas a glare that almost made him turn around and leave again. "From the looks of it bruh, I'm guessing your stroll through the village ain't go too well."

Lucas didn't bother to reply to it, it was pretty obvious on his face how his fucking day went. "Sorry bout slamming the door…" Lucas apologized, before walking over to his bed and sitting down, resting his back against the backboard.

"It's all good mayne. But damn, I almost pissed myself, don't you know I'm still higher than a satellite?" Jaime asked joking, causing Lucas to chuckle softly, a momentary reprieve from the news he received. "But seriously, what happened that put all that sand in your vag man?" Jaime asked with genuine concern.

"Give me that roach you hidin, and then I'll tell you." Lucas demanded, holding his hand out.

"Bet bruh, give me a sec." Jaime replied, before pulling out the top drawer on the tableside bureau and pulling out what was left over of the blunt he smoked earlier. "Fuck man, it must have been some shit cause you rarely get high…"

"It didn't start off too bad you know, I hung around, and ended up meeting my old man, fortunately enough he wasn't really a dick, which I kinda expected him to be. We went and got some coffee at my mom's coffee shop and then I fuckin' ran into Peyton… I was hopin' to prolong that meeting and she was staring me down, which was expected and then tells me I knocked her up on that night I left Tree Hill." Lucas admitted.

Jaime choked on the first inhalation of his freshly lit Newport. After a fit of coughing, he looked over at Lucas. "You for real?" Jaime managed out.

"Do you think I'd bullshit about something like that? The fuckin' bitch won't even let me see the child, but it's true enough, Dan confirmed it." Lucas replied.

"Damn, congratulations, I guess." Jaime said snickering.

Lucas gave him a morbid look, before snatching up Jaime's lighter and sparking up the roach, inhaling the THC and doing his best to forget what was going on in the world to little avail. "Man, we should of never came up." Lucas bit off, glaring at his best friend for dragging him back to Tree Hill, NC.

"Don't say that, you got a kid after all. You've no idea what some people would give to have their own mayne." Jaime bit off, a bit too harshly.

"I'm sorry Jaime, you know I didn't mean it like that." Lucas apologized. Caught up in his own dilemma he had forgotten the hell Jaime had went through the last two years, suffering over the loss of a kid that was never his to begin with.

"My bad, it's just, you know how I get…" Jaime offered up lamely.

"So what do you want to do tonight?" Lucas asked, the master of changing subjects. Jaime's jade eyes brightened, with prominent red capillaries visible, proof of his more than sufficient dosage of THC.

"Well, Petyon kinda pissed in your Rice Krispies, how 'bout we go bust a nut in her Cheerios." Jaime offered.

"Dude, don't make it sound like we're about to go gangbang her." Lucas chastisted.

"We could do that too." Jaime replied, a smirking rising to his face. Standing up from the bed, he walked over to the mini-fridge and grabbed two Heinekens. Using his lighter to crack the top off, he handed one over to Lucas. "Alright, I'm fina shower and get dressed, but first I'm gonna drink this beer and sleep for another couple hours. I suggest you do the same." Jaime offered, before quenching his parched throat in an attempt to rid himself of cottonmouth.

…

Hours later, Lucas awoke to the sound of the shower running and he groggily stood up from the bed, walking over to grab himself another beer while he waited for Jaime to finish showering. Sitting on the bed and bored, he began to brood, something he was commonly known for in the past. He really wasn't sure how to handle being a father. Albeit Keith had been a good one to him, showing him the path, even if he had fucked up and left Tree Hill after his surrogate father's death. But after getting to know Dan, he had carried the feelings of abandonment with him even if no one knew it. He had questioned if he hadn't been good enough, if maybe that's why Dan had left him mother, leaving him to live the modest life he had lived.

What kind of father would he be?

If he could even be a father at all. Petyon made it very clear she didn't want him in her daughter's life today, not that he could truly blame her after he pulled that hit and run technique on her over two years ago.

But he didn't want to be Dan Scott, he had to live up to the pedestal Keith had placed him on, to not do so would be to piss all over Keith's grave and disgrace the values that had been instilled in him since childhood. Somehow he had to convince Peyton to let him make things right, at least when it came to his daughter. All he knew was that her name was Sawyer Brooke Scott and that she was fifteen months old, Dan had been sketchy on the details at best.

Apparently Dan had been aiming for some kind of redemption because he had taken care of her in Lucas' absence, assuring that his granddaughter had the best life she could live, and for that Lucas would be eternally grateful.

What did she look like?

Did she look like him at all?

Thoughts continued to run rampant in his head, and he cursed himself for sleeping with Peyton and leaving her alone to clean up his mess. He didn't regret her pregnancy, not at all, but he did regret having left Tree Hill now, even if it meant he never would have met Jaime. At least he would have had Peyton, his daughter Sawyer, and the support of his friends to make life easier.

Instead his decisions had left him running to Florida, scared of life, and Jaime had been his life support, saving him from drowning in the vast ocean that was the past. Though a good influence he was not, Jaime too had been swallowed by grief and loss, drowning himself in women, vices, and money.

The two grieving friends had struck up a friendship, as they tried to salvage what was left of their youth.

"Fuck." Lucas whispered, running his hands through his spiky hair.

Jaime stepped out of the bathroom, looking dressed to impress. He had own a fresh pair of black jeans with a white Rocawear emblem emblazoned on the back pockets of the jeans. He had on a pair of white high top Air Force Ones and he slid on a black wife beater, before putting on a white button up epaulette shirt, with the sleeves rolled up above his elbows.

"You dressed like you ready to meet B. Davis tonight…" Lucas commented off-handedly, before standing up to grab his towel and a change of clothes.

Jaime shrugged. "Life's an impatient bitch, and if there's one thing I know, it's that she never fuckin' waits."

Lucas knew that there were no truer words. "You right boss."

"You know what sucks, I'm not high anymore. Oh well, at least I'll get drunk at TRIC, you driving tonight dawg." Jaime said, tossing Luke the keys to the Mustang.

"You're not drunk now are you?" Lucas asked.

"Not yet." Was the brief reply the Jaime offered. There was a distracted look to him, as if he were searching for something that couldn't be seen by anyone but him.

"You a'ight?" Lucas asked, trying not to be concerned.

Jaime shrugged, before opening up the fridge and grabbing himself a beer.

Lucas knew that when Jaime was in that kind of mood, it was best to just keep it moving, because those were the rare times when silence was all Jaime offered.

Grabbing his towel and entering the bathroom, Lucas undressed and slipped silently into the shower, before grabbing the nozzle and turning it, demanding hot water from it. The spray of hot water shot out from the nozzle and warmed his body up, and for a moment he let his thoughts wander.

Peyton…

That bitch… how dare she judge him? She had left a supermassive black hole where his heart used to be, an empty void where notions of love had escaped an never returned, leaving just the haunting memories and a sense of longing.

Her and her ridiculously beautiful green eyes, emerald orbs capturing sight of him in the sunlight, anger and lust forming a flame that lit him to the core. Soft, pink lips parting for him so many nights ago, as her tongue invaded his mouth demanding passage.

His blood was running elsewhere, and he couldn't stop it.

Her neck, graceful in sight, begging for him to lay a trail of kisses leading to the valley between her breasts, two soft breasts graced by perfect areolas and pink nipples. Her stomach was still taut, belying that she ever had a baby, leading down to her long, sexy legs.

A long time ago, he'd called them chickeny, but now more than ever he desired to be between them, kissing the inside of her thighs until his fingers pushed between the pink folds, invading her, readying her until his lips found the crown of her clit, taking it into his lips…

He wasn't sure how long he'd been masturbating, but suddenly he found himself swallowing the groan that threatened to burst from his lips, as he pumped faster and harder than ever until he found his sweet release.

Thick ropes of cum sprayed the back wall of the shower, and Lucas' eyes widened in surprise. Jaime was in the other room after all…

"Fuck." He cursed himself for being a douche bag and jerking off while his friend was on the other side of the wall.

Fuck you Peyton… Lucas thought angrily, wishing she could hear his thoughts. Grabbing the smallest complimentary towel they had, Lucas cleaned up his mess before tossing it into the garbage bin, and then actually showering himself, not wanting to waste anymore time then necessary.

Turning off the shower, he dried himself with his own towel, before slipping into a pair of black boxers and then into some light blue jeans. Grabbing the tight white shirt he brought into the bathroom, he applied a bit of deodorant before putting it on, then opening the cupboard to find a bit of hair gel to style his hair up a bit.

Tonight was going to be hell.

But he'd be damned if he'd been the only one suffering.

…

Jaime Gines tossed the Heineken beer carelessly into the night, his green eyes ablaze with anger. While Lucas had been showering, he had hung outside drinking, smoking a few cigarettes and brooding over the past which he tended to avoid at all costs. Something about the wooded area, the coziness that Tree Hill offered that made him think of home, of the family he left behind.

He rarely talked about them, and Lucas never brought it up, God bless him.

Though one day, he'd muster up the courage to tell him everything, he'd even tell him the real reason he got kicked out of the Navy, why he had lost his golden wings and the ability to maneuver a MH-60 Sierra helicopter.

But it was complicated, just like with Jackeline.

Jackeline Rivera, the fuckin' cunt.

Lucas had the fortune of never having met her.

He never would.

She was dead after all.

Six feet in the ground with his Commanding Officer's child in her putrid womb.

He sometimes, on the darkest of days wished it had been him that killed her, rather than the helicopter crash in Fallon, Nevada.

Bitter tears burned away at his eyes, and his arm instinctively rose as he used his forearm to brush away the tears.

Tossing away his half smoked Newport with a careless flick, not really caring where it landed, he was brought out of his reverie as a woman's voice called out, "Watch out where you're flicking that cigarette, you could of burned me with it."

Bleary eyes raised and took sight of the woman. She was young, about his age, short with brown hair and blonde streaks. Brown eyes and pale, porcelain skin complimented her face and hid the small butt chin she had. His jade eyes recognized her immediately, but he decided to play aloof. "Watch where you're walking, you could of gotten hit with a lit cigarette." He bit off waspishly.

"Don't try to blame me asshole, I'm not the one flicking cigarettes at people." The woman Jaime recognized as Haley James snapped, giving him an irritated glare.

Jaime smirked, unable to help himself. "Hey shawty, don't take it personal, but you got some nice dick sucking lips." Jaime deadpanned, straight face and all. Her eyes widened in horror and he took the opening in time to close the door behind him as he returned to his hotel room.

II

Nathan pressed the ignore button on his phone as Taylor called him again. He was on cloud nine right now, and he didn't want her over, reminding him of what he lost. A euphoric high washed over him, in part because they had defeated the LA Lakers today in front of thousands of screaming fans, in part because of the cocaine he had just snorted.

The 6'2 Chicago Bulls player lay on his back, a gorgeous redhead by the name of Rachel Gatina riding him into sweet oblivion.

He had done well today finishing the game, scoring 54 out of the Bull's 105 points. He had 12 rebounds, 14 assists, and 6 steals. He had single-handedly destroyed the Lakers today, crossing over K. Bryant on numerous occasions as well as Rick Fox and Derek Fisher, hitting fade-aways and jump shots from all over the court. He had shot a good 20/28 Field Goals, including four three pointers and ten free throws.

His mind was in overdrive right now, completely alert, his vision could get no better as he could still see tiny bits of cocaine in Rachel's belly button from where he had snorted earlier. He never felt more alive, then when he did when he used cocaine. He had only been doing it off and on for the last six months, namely right after he started fucking Rachel.

It felt so good to fuck her while he was high, sleep or food were no longer necessary, just the touch that she provided him, his overly sensitive skin receiving wave after wave of pleasure as her inner muscles squeezed him in a way that would send any man tumbling over the edge.

He was not any man though.

He was Nathan Scott.

He grabbed her by the waist, before flipping her over, sliding out of her wet, hot hole. "Please Nathan, don't tease." She begged, her auburn hair splayed behind her, giving her more of an allure than he ever found in her in high school.

Driving into her with one powerful thrust, he stretched her inner walls, filling her up as her body was forced to provide lubrication for the powerful invasion. He had a feeling of vertigo, pleasure running down his body like wave after wave, and yet he continued sliding in and out of her, her legs spread, and his lips finding her ample breasts.

They continued fucking for what felt like days, though a few hours had passed, as two people found safe haven in each other, even if it was cocaine induced.

After it was over and Nathan was thoroughly showered, he laid on the bed and turned on the TV, though Rachel was fast asleep. Changing it from some high school drama show on the WB to ESPN, he had hoped they were showing clips of the thorough ass kicking he had given to the Lakers, and instead he found out his life had gone to hell in a hand basketball.

On the TV screen was the Commissioner for the NBA, announcing that due to recent discoveries of steroids use in the NBA and MLB, tomorrow there was a surprise urinalysis for every active NBA player. It was mandatory and Nathan had to take part in it.

He was still high as fuck.

III

Peyton sobbed hysterically, tears streaming down her face, cascading to the floor with a sullen splash. How dare he? How dare he come back to Tree Hill like nothing happened? She couldn't even find the words to describe what she was feeling right now. She hated him, utterly and passionately, she hated him because she still loved him.

Because he ruined her, no man would be good enough. She hadn't had sex since the night with Lucas, ironically and she hadn't wanted to, mostly out of fear of intimacy. Two years of a life of solitude with just her daughter Sawyer for company.

It wasn't fair, why couldn't he have stayed away?

Wrapping her small arms around her daughter, she held Sawyer to her chest and continued sobbing, tears falling down to mat the top of her head. "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry Sawyer."

"I'm guessing you say Lucas today?" Skills asked, walking over to his old friend. She was sitting on the porch of Dan's old beach house, sitting on a rocking chair and clutching her daughter close.

Peyton sniffled, before drying her eyes out with her shirt. "You too?" Peyton asked.

"Yea I had the pleasure of running into that dude and the homeboy he brought along for the ride." Skills replied, a distracted look to his face.

"He brought a friend… is he gay now?" Peyton asked, mildly surprised.

"Nah shorty, from the looks of it's his best friend or something. But the friend a hot mess too, he was smoking a blunt in the middle of the River Court." Skills grumbled, shaking his head in discontent.

"Tell me you taught him a lesson." Peyton demanded, her green eyes lighting up.

"Nah shorty, he actually taught me a lesson, he beat me and didn't let me score a single point." Skills mumbled, and Peyton had to fight to not laugh.

"Damn, so who is this new guy?" Peyton asked.

"Interested? He might be your type after all." Skills asked smirking, knowing that it would irritate Peyton. The two friends had gotten closer in Lucas' absence, with Skills losing his girlfriend Bevin because he spent so much time with Sawyer and Sawyer.

"Shut up." Peyton demanded, not really meaning it.

"All I got was his name, Jaime I think it was. He looks Spanish, got spiky black hair and green eyes, but not like yours ma. Athletic by the ass whoopin' he gave me, despite him being higher than heaven when we played." Skills offered and Peyton had a weird look to her.

"You got whipped by some stoner? One who was playing high and didn't get in a single shot?" Peyton asked incredulously. "That's rich." Peyton continued, laughing at her close friend. Placing the baby in her crib, Peyton walked over to Skills and slid her arm around his waist in a friendly gesture.

"Don't make fun of me Sawyer." Skills said, smirking.

"Or what Skills?" Peyton asked, laughing.

Skills didn't reply, instead he spun around Peyton, picking her up and laying her on the couch and proceeded to tickle her. His fingers found her stomach and she giggled in laughter, tears springing to her eyes until he finally relented. "Don't make fun of me Sawyer." He repeated with a grin. Peyton gathered her bearings and sat upright. "So when's the nanny getting here?" Skills asked, wanting to head over to TRIC as soon as possible.

"Deb said she'd be here soon." Peyton replied, a distracted look on her face.

Skills already knew what she was thinking of. "Thinking of Lucas, huh?" Skills asked solemnly.

Peyton didn't reply right away. "Yeah, I guess I am." She replied honestly.

An unbidden anger surfaced to Skills face, but it was drowned by a look of sadness. "You know what sucks, ma?" Skills asked.

"What Skills?" Peyton asked, his face was so forlorn she wondered what bothered him.

"That I'm completely in love with you, shorty." Skills confessed and Peyton's eyes widened in surprise. She couldn't even think straight after he dropped that bomb on her. "And you wouldn't ever have known unless I told you. But what sucks more than that is that I'll never have a chance with you Sawyer, but Lucas, he'll have plenty of them, because you love him. You have no idea what I would give up for just one, Sawyer."

His throat felt constricted and he had to get the hell out of there. Peyton was still shocked at Skills confession.

Skills in love with her?

"I gotta go shorty, see ya at TRIC!" Skills called out, before bolting from the room and leaving her alone in her thoughts.

Lucas had showed up and her life had been swallowed up in his wake.

Damn you Lucas Scott… Peyton thought.

IV

"Brooke, I think you should re-consider and fire Peyton. She's nothing but a leech, feeding off the millions you're making." Victoria insisted, much to Brooke's ire.

"Will you shut up already… I'm not firing Peyton or Rachel. Peyton's just in a slump, she'll get a good artist soon enough. The only leech I know is you, and thank God I didn't make you a CEO." Brooke fired back, hanging up the phone on her mother.

She was definitely sick of her mother ranting and raving about who Brooke should fire, did she forget that it was her company after all? Clothes over Bros would be nothing without Brooke, if not for her designs and the risky decisions she had made to found the multi-million dollar corporation. She had hired her mother as an advisor, simply because in a sense Brooke really didn't know all the business or political aspects of running a company, and it gave her an excuse to be closer to her mother.

She now regretted it.

Victoria thought that because she was Brooke's mother, she could run her to the ground, despite it being Brooke's company, but she was sorely mistaken.

She was B. Davis, she hadn't had a mother all her life and she sure as fuck didn't need one now. Grabbing her personal bag, she walked out of the Tree Hill airport and into Peyton's waiting arms. They did have business to discuss, but it could wait till tomorrow. Tonight she was going to have fun, it had been so long since she'd been in Tree Hill, NC. Being rich and famous meant boring parties with people she didn't know, a fake smile plastered to her face, accompanied by a fake life with fake dates. She needed a reprieve.

She needed to return to her roots in Tree Hill, see friends, make a business arrangement with Peyton, and officially bitch slap Lucas Scott for abandoning her best friend. For abandoning them all, friends including and not even leaving a number for them to get a hold of him even if they had wanted to. Plus she wanted to see her goddaughter Sawyer, it'd been a few months since she had seen her.

She had gotten the word from Haley of Luke's appearance, and immediately hopped in her private jet to get over here. She knew Haley was coming tomorrow, but that sure as hell was going to be awkward. She really hadn't stayed in touch with her, mainly due to the fact that she had sided with Nathan in his ugly divorce with Haley.

After giving birth to Jamie, she wanted to go out and tour just as Nathan got accepted to the Bulls. She refused to give up on her dream, because she said it wasn't fair that Nathan got to chase his while she became a stay at home mother.

Nathan had been pissed because she already had a shot of her dream and realized she couldn't juggle a marriage and family with music. By choosing music, she had essentially put him and Jamie on the backburner. She rarely saw him, and that pissed off Nathan more than he let show. Despite him achieving his dream, he was still a full time father.

He only used coke when Haley had his son, so it's not like he shouldn't receive the fucking father of the year award.

Their divorce had caused a rift between their friendships that none of them had the time to fully repair, leaving them out of touch with one another.

"What's up P. Sawyer, anything new?" Brooke asked, taking in her best friend's warmth as they hugged tightly.

"Skills told me he was in love with me." Peyton offered with a casual shrug, though inside she was in a huge inner turmoil. Skills was attractive, sensitive, caring, and fun to be with… why did she still want Lucas Scott?

"What!" Brooke shrieked.

"I know, it's insane, he just told me an hour ago." Peyton admitted softly.

"What are you going to do?" Brooke asked.

"I really don't know, I just know it starts with some drinks." Peyton suggested and the two best friends headed over to TRIC, chatting it up as they caught up on life since they last saw each other.

V

Lucas and Jaime headed straight for the entrance of TRIC, not even bothering with the long, raucous line behind them. "Hey don't cut asshole." Someone shouted from the back, but the two didn't care and walked straight up to the bouncer.

"Sir, you have to wait in line like everyone else." The bouncer told him coldly, figuring that Luke and Jaime was a bunch of rich kids who were arrogant and thought they could just pay for everything.

"Do you know who I am?" Lucas asked the bouncer.

"Frankly, no sir, I don't, and I don't care to." The stocky, built Caucasian replied.

"You should, I'm your boss Lucas Scott, and I own this club." Lucas replied angrily. "Karen Roe was my mother and passed this building to me in her death, though I left it in Peyton Sawyer's care in my absence. The person next to me is a V.I.P. welcome here whenever he chooses to come and will be treated as such, are we understood?" Lucas asked.

The bouncer's eyes got wide. "Sir, I didn't know. I'm so sorry for the inconvenience, please step through sir and let me know if there's anything I can do for you." The bouncer stuttered out.

"Don't make the same mistake again." Lucas replied, leveling the much bigger bouncer with a hard steely glare that intimidates most on the receiving end of it.

As the two stepped into the club, Jaime opened his mouth, "Do you really own this club?" he asked.

Lucas nodded and headed straight for the bar. The bartender behind the bar was a taller, Italian looking gentleman with a black TRIC shirt on. "Can I see some ID's?" the bartender asked.

Lucas completely ignored and instead said, "Six shots of Patron Silver, lime and salt included and two Heinekens. Put it on the club's tab." Lucas ordered.

The bartender did not like being talked to that way, but knew that the blond in front of him must be the actual owner of the club to make such orders. "Lucas Scott, I'm assuming?" the bartender asked.

"Yeah, you?" Lucas replied evenly.

"Owen." The bartender responded curtly, before serving the drinks to the two of them.

"Thank you Owen." Lucas replied curtly, before tossing a fifty dollar bill on the counter and pushing it towards the bartender.

"Than you, sir."

Lucas and Jaime grabbed licked the salt, then shot the shots of Patron down their throats, then bit the limes to ignore the burning sensation in their stomachs. After drinking the three shots of Tequila, each grabbed their Heineken and began sipping on it. Both were caught up in their own worlds and memories that they didn't see Peyton approach.

"Well, if it isn't the guy who knocked me up and then left town…" Peyton said, interrupting their thoughts with an icy glare.

Lucas laughed, "Bitter much, Peyt." He replied, and Jaime arched his eyebrows at the interesting interaction.

"Kind of. What brings you to this establishment?" Peyton asked.

"I own it, at least I think I do." Lucas replied mirthfully.

"Are you here to collect on your portion of the money?" Peyton asked, "I have it saved up for you incase you ever did come back." Petyon continued.

Lucas contemplated it for a second. "Nah, keep it, think of it as child support for our daughter." Lucas offered politely.

"Don't need it, I didn't need it before, and I sure as hell don't need it now." Peyton spat angrily.

"I'm just trying to be nice, and maybe if you'd stop being a bitch, I'd be a father." Lucas spat and Peyton raised her arm to smack him, but Lucas grabbed her arm. "Stop Peyton, you might not like what I'm saying, but I'm trying to be there for our daughter, whose name I don't even know, and you keep refusing." Lucas continued, releasing her hand.

"Lucas, why should I trust you with our daughter? I get that you were grieving after your mom's and Keith's death, but why did you even sleep with me if you were just going to run away?" Peyton demanded angrily, her eyes brightening up as tears began to form in her green orbs.

"I didn't mean to sleep with you…" Lucas began, his throat constricting as his consciousness plagued him. "I was so hurt and scared, and a coward I'll admit. I was just going to run away because I couldn't deal with the memories and then you showed up Peyton, and I knew without a doubt that I was completely in love with you. I loved you before and I knew it, but in the library when you kissed me, I knew with complete clarity that it was you I wanted, and even if it was for one night, I wanted to be with you. It's selfish, I know, and I would of spared both of us a lot of un-needed angst if I would have kept my dick in my pants, but I loved you and needed you right there and then. Why do you think I left TRIC and Karen's Café to you?

"I could have given it to Nathan, Haley, hell even Brooke, but it was just you Peyt." Lucas finished.

"That's not fair Lucas, you can't throw that in my face after all you've done. You can't give a long, drawn out speech about why you slept with me and then ditched. You didn't even leave me info for me to contact you, I'm sorry, but it was you who messed up, not me. Her name's Sawyer Brooke Scott by the way." Peyton replied softly, before drying her eyes with a napkin. "There's nothing you can do to make it up to me or her, so don't try Lucas, because I've moved on, even if you haven't." Peyton continued.

"Wow…_drama_….' Jaime said sarcastically. "Man Luke, you're a lucky bastard. She's just as beautiful as you said, if I would of slept with her, you couldn't pay me to leave bruh." Jaime said smirking.

Lucas gave Jaime a stony glare.

Petyon's green orbs swiveled over to Jaime's, giving him a searching look. "So this must be that pothead Skills was talking about? Not bad looking at all, not my type though." Peyton replied airily before brushing him off, and Jaime had the galls to laugh.

"I'm everybody's type shawty." Jaime replied and walked off, beer in hand to find tonight's amusement, leaving Lucas and Peyton alone to continue their conversation.

"Look, you don't love me anymore Peyt, that's fine, the feelings mutual…" Lucas lied, giving her a steely gaze. "But I want to be there for Sawyer, she's my daughter even if I haven't been there for her? How was I supposed to know you were pregnant, don't make me seem like I'm a bad father for not being there for a child I didn't know existed. A bad boyfriend, or a bad friend I may be, but I didn't become a father until today, when I knew about her, and I want to be there for her Peyt, even if you hate me and don't want me in your life, let me be in hers." Lucas expressed painfully.

"How? You don't even live in Tree Hill…" Peyton pointed out.

"I'll move back, I'll live here or somewhere close, but I can't go back to Florida and pretend Sawyer doesn't exist, I'm not that much of a dick. I'm not Dan, even if you picture me as him." Lucas replied.

"You can't just jump back into our lives Lucas, it's not fair to me or our friends." Peyton bit off bitterly.

Lucas motioned for the bartender to give him another beer, putting the empty bottle back on the counter with another fifty dollar bill.

"I'm not asking to be, just in her life." Lucas shot back.

"The answer's still no Lucas, why don't' you go knock up another girl, one you won't leave." Petyon snapped, giving him one last glare before leaving Lucas alone to brood. It made him think of a song by Lupe Fiasco, called He Say, She Say. It was about a boy who grew up fatherless and him wishing his father had cared enough.

Lucas had fallen in love with the song because it reminded him of his life, a life where he had wondered why Dan had left him and his mother to starve and die like vermin. But the song was now a double edged blade, leaving Lucas to ponder, just what will he do? Will he return to Florida because Peyton didn't want him in his daughter's life, or would he stick to it, thick and thin until he had his daughter in his arms?

He already knew the answer.

He just couldn't help but brood.

So he said to him  
"I want you to be a father  
I'm your little boy and you don't even bother  
Like "brother" without the R  
And I'm starting to harbor  
Cool and food for thought  
But for you I'm a starver  
Starting to use red markers on my work  
My teacher say they know I'm much smarter  
But I'm hurt  
I used to hand my homework in first  
Like I was the classroom starter  
Burst to tears  
Let them know he see us  
Now I'm fighting in class  
Got a note last week that say I might not pass  
Kids ask me if my daddy is sick of us  
Cause you ain't never pick me up  
You see what my problem is?  
That I don't know where my poppa is  
No positive male role model  
To play football and build railroad models  
It's making a hole you've been digging it  
Cause you ain't been kicking it  
Since I was old enough to hold bottles  
Wasn't supposed to get introduced to that  
I don't deserve to get used to that  
Now I ain't asking you for money or to come back to me  
Some days it ain't sunny but it ain't so hard  
Just breaks my heart  
When my momma try to provide and I tell her 'That ain't your job'  
To be a man, she try to make me understand  
That she my number one fan  
But its like you born from the stands  
You know the world is out to get me, why don't you give me a chance?"

VI

Brooke Davis was having a decent night, she was back in tiny little Tree Hill, but she couldn't shake the feeling that things were going to go down. Peyton had given her a small summary of the day since Lucas' return. Lucas pleading to see his daughter and be a father now, to the pothead friend that came along, to Skills declaring his love for her. Poor P. Sawyer had a lot going on right now.

She was bored out of her mind, an Appletini in her hand and kind of upset that no one knew she existed, that she was a huge, multi millionaire fashion designer. "I guess the people of Tree Hill don't know fashion." Brooke said to herself.

"I guess not." A voice replied, and she nearly jumped, dropping the Appletini she had in hand, causing it to shatter on the floor and spray the vodka mix at her feet.

"Asshole." She replied, looking up to look at the intruder.

Tall, dark, and sexy.

Brooke nearly melted looking at him. He was taller than her by almost a foot, with smoky green eyes, and spiky black hair. Long, thin sideburns down to his jaw and no facial hair besides the small, clean beard he sported. His lips were curled up into a cruel smirk, and Brooke wondered what all kinds of devious things he could do with his mouth.

Until she remembered he was the reason she spilled her drink. "Don't creep up on people like that, do you not have manners?" Brooke demanded angrily.

"Meh, manners are troublesome and for the socially correct, which I'm not, but I do apologize. I'll get you another drink, beautiful." The stranger spoke up, literally leering at her with his green eyed gaze, his eyes lingering for far too long where they shouldn't.

"Wow, creepy and an asshole." Brooke bit off, perplexed at the stranger's demeanor.

"Don't forget good lookin' too shawty. The name is Jaime by the way." He offered, extending his hand in a simple, friendly gesture.

"I didn't ask for it." Brooke replied icily.

"I don't care." Was all he said, infuriating her even more. The nerve of the bastard.

"I'm not giving you my name." Brooke snapped, motioning for the waitress to come over.

"I don't need you to, I already know who you B. Davis." Jaime relied softly, allowing his eyes to bore into hers, sending shivers down her arms.

"Then you know I'm out of your league." Brooke continued cruelly. She hoped her icy demeanor would send him walking away, leaving her to ponder as to how a complete stranger could unnerve her in such a manner.

"Perhaps, or maybe I'm out of yours." Jaime responded smirking, not an ounce of ire in his voice.

"You're a dick."

"So what does a dick like me have to do to get in your pants?' Jaime asked off-handedly, as if he were asking her out on a date.

Brooke's eyes got wide. "You're walking a thin line, _Jaime_." She replied scathingly.

"Probably. Seeing as its karaoke night, how about I sing you something?" Jaime asked mirthfully, his smoky green eyes lighting up.

"If you know who I am, then you can imagine the things people have done to pick me up. If you think a songs going to work, you're on something. "Brooke shot back.

"Look Brooke, I'm not fina sweat you like you all that, babe. I'm as real as it gets and got no problem telling you what I want and how I want it. I ain' one of dem fake ass Hollywood cats who chase you for the fame and the money, I got my own. So we can keep it trill, or you can keep it movin', but just lissin' to the song shawty." Jaime replied, and she really wanted to stab his eyes out.

"Can you even speak proper English?"

"I could, but I'm fina be me mami.' Jaime shot back, before heading up to the stage.

He couldn't actually be singing a song for her… she'd been serenaded by the richest, hottest guys in the world and she'd brushed them off like the meaningless tools they were. How was he any different?

VII

Jaime looked at the crowd from the top of the stage, his heart was beating impossibly fast, and his hands were sweaty and clammy. He, Jaime Gines had talked to Brooke Davis. Albeit she didn't seem to stand be able to stand him, but a start was a start nevertheless. Grabbing the mic , he brought it up to his mouth. He already told the DJ what instrumental to play, he was definitely going to bring the South into Tree Hill, whether they liked it or not.

He could see Lucas brooding, drinking shot after shot at the bar, and Jaime pitied him. To have so much thrown in his lap on the first day back, to have everyone hate you, must be hard to deal with. But then again, Jaime knew exactly what that felt like.

"_You're dead to me Jaime, do you understand? You're dead to me, you're not even worth calling a son."_

Brushing off his father's words, he spoke to the crowd. "What's haapnin' Tree Hill, now me, I'm a southern boy from Florida, so y'all probably ain't use to what I'm fina do, but I'm not gonna sing, I'm fina freestyle something for a lil' shawty in the crowd who can't stand the sight of me. Here goes nothin'." Jaime spoke, and the crowd booed him.

Not that he cared.

She put that sugar on my tongue

She's gonna give me, give me some

She put it right there on my tongue

She's so sweet, no other, turns me on, like no other

Now don't be a bitter bitch, cuz lil' ma, I ain't fina trip,

I'm say what I mean, if you don't like, then go suck a dick,

You wouldn't be so ugly, if you stopped acting so uppity,

I already got you on a high enough pedestal, what more do you want from me?

You acting so better cuz you high class, am I the dirt beneath your feet?

Cuz if so I can keep it movin', the world's an open sea,

I really mean it when I say you're beautiful, and it ain't cuz I'm tryna beat,

Southern boy wit a southern drawl, got you panty-less and up against the wall,

Got you beggin me for more, but how much more when I've given you my all,

I really mean it when I say it ain't about one late night smash,

So open your eyes and legs Brooke, let Jaime get a midnight snack.

Jaime returned the mic, a euphoric high washing over him, though he hadn't touched cocaine. Hoping off the stage into the silent crowd, all eyes were on him, including Brooke's. The one person clapped, and then the crowd erupted into an explosion of clapping and cheering. It felt good, almost like he was…

…Accepted.

Ignoring the sexy brunette he had dedicated the freestyle for, he headed over to Peyton, who was looking sad by herself, looking at everywhere but Lucas. "Peyton, can I talk to you?" Jaime asked.

"Physically you could with or without permission, whether you should is something else entirely." Peyton exclaimed, her voice dropping low and taking a dangerous edge.

"Look I know it's fucked up what Lucas did, I'm not going to defend that even if he is my best friend. But I know how you feel…"

He was quickly interrupted by Peyton. "No you don't. You're just like him, so don't come here preaching about how I should let him into my daughter's life, because you don't know how it feels to…"

He interrupted her. "Have your heart ripped out of your chest, leaving a black hole in its place? I do Peyton, that's the thing. I used to be a helicopter pilot for the Navy, and my fiancée cheated on me with a guy I thought of as a friend, who was also my boss to top it off, and she got pregnant to him. Then she died in a helicopter crash, and I hated her… hell I wished it would have been me who got to kill her at times, but other times I want to save her, because after all she did to me, I really loved her. Don't carry that hate with you Peyton, makes you bitter, trust me I know, and it's not too late for you, unlike me, Lucas can still be saved." Jaime finished gently, giving her a small nod and walking off.

Jaime head off to the bar, needing a drink in his system, because he needed to forget. Tree Hill was his last hope for absolution and he knew it. He could drink, smoke, and fuck his nights away until he died in Florida, or he could move on, not necessarily to Brooke, but move on period. He couldn't do that in Florida because everywhere he went, he saw her.

She was a grim reaper in disguise following him, haunting him and scaring him with her presence. Her deathly white, incorporeal hands reaching for him, trying to lure him into her death grip and send him tumbling into the abyss where she was.

She called for him, a dead half formed baby in her hands, haunting his dreams, and when he awoke he felt a paralyzing numb throughout his body and he could do nothing but submerse himself in whatever booze or marijuana he found available.

If he would have stayed in Florida, she would return to plague him daily.

In some ways she still did, even here in Tree Hill.

He was about to head over to Lucas and tell him he was leaving, when a hand gripped his shoulders. Green eyes ablaze, he looked to see who it was and it was the brown eyed brunette of his desire. His lips are about to curl into the mocking sneer he had so patented, until he other hand reached over and slapped him hard across the face. "Don't ever do that again…" she warned, and then released him. "Give me a reason I shouldn't slap you again Jaime, in ten words or less." Brooke demanded.

"Because I want to fuck the hell outta ya." Jaime said slowly. "Bitch." He added, as if an afterthought.

Her eyes got wide with anger, and before she could slap him again, he roughly grabbed her by the waist, and pulled her flush to him. "Let go of me…"

He didn't let her finished as he kissed her, surprising her full mouth as his lips descended over hers, taking what he wanted from her. His lips bruised hers, and then as quickly as it was initiated, it was over. He let her go, his smoky gaze burning into hers. "Why did you do that for?" she asked, her pupils wide, her lips burning with his lust and taste.

"I guess since I'm out of your league, at least now I'll know what you taste like." Jaime replied softly, and then turned around and headed over towards Lucas.

"You got balls, boss." Lucas said laughing, seeing Brooke for the first time.

"I'm going to be at the River Court for a bit, come pick me up when you done." Jaime said, handing the bartender forty bucks for tip, and then giving Lucas and Peyton the deuce as he disappeared into the crowd.

VIII

Lucas was lost in thought, still thinking about his daughter Sawyer, and just exactly what he felt for her mother Peyton. He lied earlier, and he knew it. He told Peyton he didn't love her anymore and that he was happy she moved on. Though to be truthful with himself, he loved her with every fiber in his being, every cell, nucleus, ever atom in his body was in love with the curly haired blonde. He'd been deluding himself in Florida with all the women he'd been with.

He never got over her.

Being in Tree Hill just reminded him of it, surfacing the feelings he'd shoved down into the recesses of his subconscious until seeing her again brought it right back up.

"It's been awhile, Lucas Scott." Brooke rasped, her hoarse voice pulling him from his thoughts, anchoring him into the world of now.

"It has. Look if you're here to throw a fit, slap me, and tell me how you don't want me in your life ever again, spare me, I got that speech from everyone else and don't need to hear the broken record again." Lucas spoke, giving her a wary look.

"Wow, not even a hello or an 'I miss you Brooke'. Don't worry, I've done my slapping for the day, broody." Brooke replied, a small smile lighting up her features.

"Yea, I saw you slap Jaime." Lucas chortled, "That was one hell of a freestyle he did there."

"You know _him_?" Brooke exclaimed scathingly.

"Yea, he's kind of my best friend." Lucas replied. "He's the one who forced me to come back."

"Peyton said you were here with some pothead, but I never expected it was him… he didn't…"

"Nah, he's something else to be real with you." Lucas said, and Brooke raised her eyebrow at the choice of words.

"How dare he freestyle up there, declare to the world about how he'd like to eat me out? Plus he called me a bitch!" Brooke exclaimed, "And then kisses me after I slap him!" she continued, ranting.

"He's definitely interested in you. He wanted to come to Tree Hill after he read the novel I wrote, but more so because he wanted to see you even though you were all the way in New York. He figured he'd never meet you, not in real life, so he settled for coming to Tree Hill to see what I saw, and in a sense know you better. He's even an avid fan of your magazine. Congratulations by the way." Lucas said.

"Shut up and give me a hug Lucas. I forgive you, because it's human to err." Brooke said. "But don't run away again if you're gonna make it up to my goddaughter, and don't hurt P. Sawyer." She rasped, clutching him in a tight hug.

"Thanks Brooke, it means a lot. When can we chill again, it's been a minute?" Luke asked.

"How about tomorrow for breakfast broody, I'll try to see if Peyton will come and bring Sawyer." Brooke offered.

"Thank you again, I'll see you tomorrow pretty girl." Lucas released her and smiled.

"Do me a favor, bring Jaime." She beckoned, before giving him a small wave and heading over towards Peyton.

IX

Nathan Scott paced around the room, ignoring his wife's frantic phone calls. He sometimes wondered why the hell he married Haley's sister for fuck's sake. Part of him knew it was to spite her, to hurt her knowing that he was banging her sister after they got divorced. He was attracted to Taylor, but that was about it, he didn't really like her, he sure as hell didn't love her.

He still loved Haley.

A year after the divorce and he couldn't get the fucking bitch out of his head, she was all he saw as he fucked Taylor.

Yet he hated her.

She pushed him into a corner, she left him and Jaime to go sing with Chris Keller again when all he wanted was for them to be a happy family.

"_You're living your dream, it's not fair I don't get to live mine." Haley snapped._

_Nathan's blue eyes burned with anger. "You already did Hales. Or did you forget the time you ran off with Chris Keller? I play ball to keep a roof over our heads so we can stay a family, and you want to throw that all away to chase a dream you already had a taste of. Why can't you make music at home, I'll build you a studio, but touring, really, right after you start a family?" Nathan yelled, trying to get her to see the point._

"_I can't stay at home and make music Nathan, that's not fair. I need to experience the crowds chanting my name like they do to you. Why can't I have dreams too?" Haley yelled crying._

"_Because I can play ball and have a family, you can't tour the states and have one Hales, you already tried. In the end it boils down to this, if you want to live your dream, then there's no us, you can forget about me and Jamie because I'm not putting me or him through that again. The ball's in your court Hales." _

She had walked out on him, intent on spiting him and living her life. A part of him understood her wanting to achieve her dreams, her life's ambition. But what sucked, what made him stay up at night and cry as he snorted another line was that he would have given up basketball for her, just to stay a family if she'd asked. Because he loved her that much, but she never did. He would of given up the dream to play NBA basketball just for the three of them to live happily ever after.

She didn't love him enough to do the same.

Perhaps it was the post-partum depression she'd experienced after Jamie, perhaps it was him.

Maybe he just wasn't good enough.

After all she'd left him twice.

Maybe he wasn't good enough in the bedroom, maybe he didn't make enough money, but it must be his fault for her to keep leaving him.

Grabbing the vase next to the his bed, he hurled it as hard as he could, breaking it into millions of pieces, shattering it like Haley had done to him.

She had shattered him just as casually as he did to the vase.

And that's what hurt the most.

Taylor called him again and he stepped out onto the hotel balcony, and finally he picked up. "Where the fuck have you been? The game ended hours ago." Taylor shrieked.

"Away, partying with the guys." Nathan lied.

"Really, and you didn't think to maybe call your fucking wife, that didn't go through your head?" Taylor asked.

"It did." Nathan said quietly.

"Then why didn't you?" Taylor demanded.

"Because I was high Taylor. I'm high, and tomorrow's a mandatory piss test, and I'm addicted to cocaine, that's why." He admitted after a few moments of silence.

Taylor cried, and he felt bad, because she loved him, and he was doing the same thing Haley did to him. "What am I going to do?" Nathan pleaded to his wife.

"You can come home to me baby." Taylor pleaded.

"Alright babe, I will, see you in a bit." Nathan said, hanging up.

Taylor Scott wasn't Haley James.

But right now, he was glad for that.

X

There was nothing in the dark but the pounding his Jordan's made on the court. The swish of the basketball as it went in, or the resounding twang when he missed. He was sweaty as hell, and thankfully, he had the sensibility to take his button shirt off. Even then, the black wife beater stuck to his chest, and his jeans stuck to his legs.

Dribbling the ball, he pivoted before shooting a turnaround fade away jumper. It went in.

The basketball court was his safe haven, where she didn't haunt him, neither did _he…_

Because he was damn good, he wasn't worthless like he said.

He made miracles happen on the court when he gave it his all.

"You about done?" Lucas called out.

"Nah, not really." Jaime replied, before dribbling and then shooting a three pointer.

Swish.

"Too bad. We gotta wake up early tomorrow." Lucas responded.

"Why?" Jaime asked.

"We're eating breakfast with Peyton and Brooke." Lucas said honestly.

"That outta be a kick in the nuts." Jaime replied snidely, but stopped playing. "Fine, you had me at Brooke." Jaime said, grinning and heading off with his best friend.

"Luke!" Someone called out from the River court.

Lucas turned around and looked to see who was calling him. It was Skills, followed closely by Mouth, Fergie, and Junk.

"Thought we didn't talk anymore?" Lucas asked, before turning around.

"We don't, don't worry this is the last time. Listen, I know your back in town and all, and this is the only warning I'm going to give you, stay away from Peyton and Sawyer. You weren't there for them for the last two years, I was, so go back to Florida with yo' homeboy back there, and leave us the hell alone here in Tree Hill." Skills shouted out.

"Or what?" Lucas asked dangerously.

"I'll kick your ass." Skills said simply, as if it were matter of fact.

"Let's not wait then." Jaime spoke from the back. He took a menacing step towards Skills.

"Jaime…" Luke called, grabbing his arm.

"C'mon Luke. Stop being a fuckin' pussy and let's knock them out. When's the last time we even fought, you don' wanna get rusty do ya?" Jaime asked.

"This ain' Florida Jaime." Luke warned him.

"We ain't no' punk ass Florida boys." Skills shouted out.

"Shut it bitch." Jaime said.

Luke glared at him.

Skills took the opportunity and swung at Jaime, connecting with his jaw.

The brawl ensued thereafter.

End of Chapter 2

A/N: Whoo, long chapter. It might take a bit for the next update because I have another fic I'm working on right now, but please review and tell me what you thought of this chapter. I tried to update as fast as possible for my reviewers. Little Green Bird, you're awesome and I love your fic. M'sOTPisLP thanks for being an awesome reviewer and a kick ass writer on top of it.

Dictionary-

Mayne- Slang for man, dude, etc.

Bruh, Brah- Slang for bro.

Lissin'- Slang for Listen

Fina- Slang term for many words such as Fixing to, Feeling to, Going to. Example; I'm fina go out I'm fixing to go out I'm going to go out

Dawg- Slang for dog.

Dip out- Slang for let's go, or I'm leaving.

Potna - Slang for partner, homeboy, homey, etc

Meh- Not really a word, an expression meant for when Jaime's bored or disinterested.

Dem- Slang for them.

Ho'- A promiscuous woman. Synonyms for this word are; chickenhead, bitch

Russell Resthaven – a term Jaime uses often, it means a man who'll give up everything for the wrong girl. Synonym; Captain Save-a-ho

Bastids- slang for bastard

Mo'fucka- slang for motherfucker.

That's enough for now. Later and please review. Expect the next update in less than two weeks. He Say She Say- Lupe Fiasco, Food and Liquor.


	4. Dream On

**The Simplicity of Eternity**

**Chapter 3: Dream On**

**Daniel Nieves**

**A/N: Thank you to all those who review and make me want to keep writing. Also if you want to stay in touch with me and have a myspace account, feel free to request me as a friend at myspacedotcom/ricoelbambino. **

**I**

Every time I look in the mirror  
All these lines on my face getting clearer  
The past is gone  
It goes by, like dusk to dawn  
Isn't that the way  
Everybody's got their dues in life to pay

Yeah, I know nobody knows  
where it comes and where it goes  
I know it's everybody's sin  
You got to lose to know how to win

The phone rang, the cell phone illuminating brightly as it vibrated on the bedside table. Nathan awoke grunting, doing his best to rub his eyes as he stumbled over to grab it and flipped it open, answering the call. "Hello." He rasped, his throat hoarse.

"Nathan, it's your coach Graham, listen I'm going to need you to come in this morning asap for that urinalysis the Commissioner was demanding about yesterday on ESPN, how fast can you make it here?" Coach Graham Jamison asked.

"I'm kind of busy, can I come through tomorrow, and my wife's got this thing." Nathan asked subtly.

"I'm sorry for the disturbance Nate, but the Commissioner was adamant about it being done this morning, so we can get the results and do what's necessary." Jamison replied, and Nathan grunted again, remembering all the coke he had snorted last night with Rachel behind his wife's back.

"I'll try to be there within the next two hours." Nathan replied dully, belying his emotions because he was utterly about to shit himself. He knew without a doubt that today was the day he would lose what he worked so hard for.

"Thanks Nate, I'll be seeing you." Graham said, before hanging up the phone, no doubt not realizing his star player and Captain of the Chicago Bulls was a coke junkie.

Nate stood up from his bed, careful not to wake up his sleeping wife. He had to come up with something, and he needed to get the coke out of his system. He talked to a few guys on the team who religiously used heroine and marijuana and they talked about some sort of detox pilled called Niacin that supposedly flushed it out within a day, but Nathan didn't have a day, he had two hours, if that.

Nathan picked up the phone and called the power forward on his team, Miles Johnson. "Hello." Miles spoke, sounding as if he too were waking up.

"Hey Miles, its Nathan, I had a question, how would you get drugs out of your system in two hours?" Nathan asked directly, straight to the point.

"Don't think its possible Scott. Only I can think of is milk and bleach, it's gonna hurt like a bitch though." Miles replied.

"Thanks, you good to go with that piss test?" Nathan asked, mildly concerned.

"Hope so, I'll guess we'll find out." Came the short reply before hung up with a click.

Nathan sighed as he wondered if he was desperate enough to use bleach and milk. But then again, the NBA was the world to him and nothing could compare. He had Jamie to take care of. Walking over to his son's crib, he looked at twenty month old baby and tears sprung to his eyes.

How would he take care of Jamie if he was released by the NBA. If he was caught with drugs the Chicago Bulls didn't have to pay him the rest of his contract, they could let him go and be done with him. He only had about two million left in the bank, and then he'd have to get a regular job and fuck…

Leaving his son's room, he headed over to the kitchen and poured himself a glass of milk, then walked over to the laundry room and grabbed the large bottle of bleach. He wasn't sure how much he was supposed to pour, but he figured it had to be a lot to fully detox him. Unscrewing the cap open, he grabbed the handle and poured a few shots worth of bleach into the milk.

He couldn't lose his job.

Not now.

Sniffing the milk, he almost blanched at the scent. It smelled horrible, but Nathan pinched the bridge of his nose and poured the contents into his mouth. It stung and burn, but he managed to swallow it.

It burned on the way down, but felt no worse than the tequila he had a few nights ago.

Minutes passed and he waited for the bleach to take effect and for him to have to piss so he could flush his system out.

Suddenly he couldn't breath, his airways were restricted and he fell over backwards, his head smacking against the ceramic tile. He began to foam at the mouth, white bubbles bubbling at his lips and he wanted to scream, but the foam wouldn't let him.

Darkness took him whole as his lungs stretched and expanded in an attempt to draw the breath it couldn't find.

**II**

Half my life  
is in books' written pages  
Lived and learned from fools and  
from sages  
You know it's true  
All the things come back to you

Lucas awoke with a groan, last night's activities now taking a toll on him. He hadn't felt the soreness before he went to bed, too hopped up on adrenaline. His ribs felt sore, bruised from Fergie's punches, and his face felt taut, too tight as he tried to frown, but found it too painful to do so.

He grabbed his phone, nearly dropping it and saw his hands were bruised and swollen, and torn at the knuckles. "Son of a bitch." Lucas cursed, rolling off the bed and to his feet as he headed over to the bathroom, flipping the light switch and nearly shutting his eyes and the bright florescent lights burned away at his retinas.

Taking a look in the mirror, he nearly gasped. Thankfully his eyes weren't black and blue but he did sport a mean bruise on his face, and as he looked at his bare chest he saw some on his ribs. "Dammit Jaime, you just had to bait him, didn't you?" Lucas hollered from the bathroom and awaking his roommate.

"Meh, did we get into a fight last night?" Jaime asked.

"Yeah, thanks asshole, you started it." Lucas spat out.

"Oh yea' that's right, it was Skills and dem." Jaime replied casually, before letting out a laugh.

"What's so funny?" Lucas demanded, not really knowing what was so funny of getting a good ass whooping last night, even if he did return it in spades.

"I can't wait to see Skills, man I got him good." Jaime shot back, still snickering.

Lucas groaned and tried to recollect the fight, and found it was easy…

_Skills punched Jaime in the face and sent him tumbling down the grass. Lucas' eyes widened and he bum rushed Skills, tackling him into the ground as he lifted up his arm and brought his elbow down onto Skills' jaw, forcing his old friend to grunt out in pain._

_Before he could do anything else, Fergie had kicked Lucas hard across his cheek, knocking him off of Skills, before climbing on top of him and punching him in the chin. Lucas tried to defend himself, raising his hands up for protection and Fergie's hand came down hard onto his palm as he punched him again._

_Out of his peripheral vision he saw Skills running over to Jaime, who had stood up again and tackling him as well as they rolled around the grass, punching each other over and over._

_Using his upper body strength, he flipped Fergie over him and saw Mouth and Junk running over to him. Before either could lay his hands on him, he decked Junk in the mouth, knocking him out cold, and then Spartan kicked Mouth in the chest, leaving him on the ground wheezing._

_As he turned around, Fergie's fist buried itself in his stomach, doubling him over in pain as he was tempted to dump out all the liquid contents he consumed at TRIC. Fergie grabbed him for and put him in a full nelson and he saw Jaime was laid out bleeding and unconscious._

_Skills walked over to him, giving him a predatory smile as he buried another fist in his stomach. "Stay away from Peyton, are we understood?" Skills demanded, punching him in the ribs again._

"_Fuck you." Lucas replied, spitting up some blood in Skills face._

"_I guess not." Skills replied, punching him hard across the mouth and Lucas' mouth protested in agony as his teeth were coated in blood._

"_You act like you're in love with her, you fuckin' Russell Resthaven ass mo'fucka." Jaime called out, before he headbutted Skills in the face, right on the bridge of his nose and breaking it on impact._

_Skills shouted out in pain as he fell back. "I am you stupid motherfucker. I am in love with Peyton Sawyer, so stay the fuck away from her, both of you." Skills shouted out._

_Jaime grabbed Junk by his afro as he let go of Lucas and rammed his fist in his eye, and then caught him in a hook that had Junk spitting out a tooth._

"_You're in love with Peyt?" Lucas asked painfully, before falling on the floor of the River Court._

"_Yeah." Skills said simply, blood covering his face, tears streaming down his cheeks. "I love her." _

"_That sucks…" Lucas offered simply._

"_Why?" Skills asked, getting up to his feet._

"_Because she deserves better than me, someone like you." Lucas replied, and grabbed Jaime by the arm. "Let's go." He commanded simply with a tone of finality._

_Jaime nodded, already having his licks in._

"_Do you still love her Lucas?" Skills asked._

"_Does it matter?" Lucas replied, and he and Jaime headed off. "How could I not?" he whispered to himself, and not even Jaime heard it._

…

"That sure was a fuckfest last nite, bruh." Jaime called out from the bedroom.

Lucas looked at himself in the mirror and wondered how the hell he was going to explain this to Brooke, who he was supposed to meet for breakfast with Peyton. "You ain' bullshitting boss."

Closing the bathroom door, he climbed in the shower and cleaned himself up, drying himself off, and then brushed his teeth, spitting all the congealed blood he still had dried up on his teeth.

Stepping back out into the bedroom, he noticed Jaime too was grabbing a towel, and his phone rang and he answered it right away. "Hello." he asked.

"This is Brooke, the one you're supposed to meet for breakfast in thirty minutes, you're not drunk or hungover and can't make it right?" Brooke asked.

"Obviously not since I answered the phone, I'll be there." Lucas replied.

"Alright see you at the café… remember bring that idiot friend of yours, he'll be interested in what I got to say." Brooke said, hanging up the phone and Lucas arched his eyebrows. Was Brooke interested in his friend after all?"

Grabbing a simple pair of jeans, he threw the on with finesse and then grabbed a tight blue shirt.

"Hurry up, they're on their way." Lucas called out to Jaime, and his best friend nearly vanished into the shower.

Minutes later he finished and got dressed in a pair of light blue jeans, a pair of tan Timberland boots, and a simple white t-shirt. Spiking his hair out, he finished the look with a pair of authentic US Navy Aviator's sunglasses. They were gold rimmed and tinted jet black with the Navy logo emblazoned on the sides.

"Let's go." Jaime replied, grabbing the keys to his Mustang.

"You good to drive?" Lucas asked.

"Meh… should be, you're the one with the fucked up knuckles there homeboy." Jaime chastised, reminding Lucas of the altercation the night before. "Maybe you did get soft and rusty, Luke." Jaime added.

Lucas gave him a morbid look. "If I remember correctly, you got your ass handed to you to, even if you dealt more than you got." Lucas replied and Jaime snickered as if it were a good memory.

"Yea', but I blame that on hanging out with you, _broody_." Jaime said, mimicking Brooke.

Both of them lit up a cigarette and Jaime unlocked the doors to the 'Stang, before stepping up inside and cranking up the engine, the V-6 roaring to life as smoke blew out of the converted dual Borla exhausts. Lowering down the windows, Jaime shifted into drive before throttling the gas, squealing the tires as he burned out, then disappearing into the streets.

III

Sing with me, sing for the year  
Sing for the laughter, sing for the tears  
Sing with me, if it's just for today  
Maybe tomorrow, the good lord will take you away

Yeah, sing with me, sing for the year  
sing for the laughter, sing for the tear  
sing with me, if it's just for today  
Maybe tomorrow, the good Lord will take you away

"I'm not going." Peyton spat at her best friend Brooke. Brooke had a frustrated look to her and Peyton was glaring her down.

"I'm not asking you to sleep with him… oh wait you did that on your own." Brooke replied mockingly. "All I'm asking is for you to have breakfast with me, Lucas, and Jaime, not to mention there's another reason involved." Brooke replied.

"What, you're trying to sleep with Jaime?" Peyton asked, an amused smile on her face, wiping the previous frown.

"Ugh… please P. Sawyer." Brooke replied, a look of disgust to her.

"C'mon Brooke, I saw you two last night." Peyton shot back.

"Then you slaw the slippage I introduced to his face." Brooke said, ire filling her voice.

"And I saw the kissage he introduced to your lips. You didn't fight back, Brooke, if memory serves me correctly." Peyton said smirking.

"I was stunned." Brooke exclaimed. "He just grabbed me and kissed me, it's not like I had much participation." Brooke added.

"But there was some participation." Peyton pointed out.

"Ugh, I can't even talk to you." Brooke snapped, before sitting down on one of the couches.

"So what's this other stuff we got to talk about?" Peyton asked simply.

"I want you to sign Jaime to your label." Brooke said, and Peyton had a shocked look to her.

"Wow, he's that good?" Peyton asked, a double entendre in her question.

"Yeah, he is." Brooke replied, not catching the subtext in Peyton's question until Peyton started giggling. "P. Sawyer, this is so not funny." Brooke snapped.

"Fine, why do you want him on the label then?"

"You saw him up there, he's damn good, I at least want to give him a shot. Peyt, I funded your label figuring you already had some artists in contact, but it's been a year, and I know you got Sawyer to look after, but I can't keep funding a label with no artists, there's no profit in it." Brooke replied, and Peyton's eyes widened in anger.

"Then don't fund me!" Peyton snapped angrily. "I'm not going to have you throw that in my face every time there's an artist you want to bang to get him on." Peyton snapped.

Brooke looked like she was going to choke Peyton. "I'm not going to fuck him Brooke. I want you to give him a chance, he was up there for two minutes, rapping something that wasn't pre-written and got the crowd to love him, all I'm asking is you work on a demo with him and see what we can make, if you still don't like, then you part ways. Not to mention, it's not like he's agreed, I'm trying to make money here, which is the point of having a business, right?" Brooke asked.

"Fine." Peyton caved. "But I don't want see why Lucas has to be there." Peyton finished, groaning.

"He does want to be there for Sawyer, perhaps you should…"

"Forgive him!? Really Brooke, he's here for one day and you already forgot the damage he's done, oh wait it's not you he knocked up after all." Peyton said, mimicking Brooke, "Being around him hurts, there are still old wounds, and he's changed into something that I don't want around Sawyer. Not to mention he has a intimate relationship with running away, I don't want Sawyer to know him and then for him to run away when things get complicated." Peyton bit off angrily.

"For all intents and purposes, he's rich. The only complications are you and the anger you still harbor for him, and I don't blame you. But no one gives him a chance to be a better man, who will?" Brooke asked.

"Not me. He's not seeing Sawyer, and that's final. I'll go to the fucking breakfast to sign Jaime and work something out, but that's it. I'll leave Sawyer at Deb's until the meetings over. I'll give him a picture, but that's all he gets Brooke, so stop pushing." Peyton said irritably.

"Fine." Brooke bit off, not wanting to continue arguing.

The two of them climbed into Peyton's Escalade, which Brooke had given to her as a "Company" car, which she explained later was a present for her and for her goddaughter and for that, Peyton couldn't be more thankful. The two of them drove in silence, which was odd coming from Brooke and headed over to Karen's Café, parking behind a black Mustang. It was one of those newer retro-look Mustangs, and was beautiful in sight, white racing stripes going down to the bottom.

"That is a nice car." Brooke commented, "Even though I've seen and driving all kinds of exotic kinds, there's nothing like a Mustang, it's in its own class." Brooke added.

Peyton nodded her agreement, and the two stepped out of the car, before walking into the café. Peyton immediately recognized Lucas and Jaime, they were sitting in the back, sipping on coffee, both of them looking dangerously good. But Peyton would never admit that.

At least not to Lucas.

Peyton walked over to their table, and Brooke couldn't help but call out, "Lucas, we're here."

Lucas looked up, cerulean blue eyes looking up to see them. A small smile instantly lit his face, though Jaime appeared to look disinterested. Not that they could see much through the tinted aviator's sunglasses. As they got close, they could see the bruising on Lucas face, and the slash across Jaime's eyebrow. There was a small bruise on the underside of his chin, and Peyton wondered what the hell happened to the two.

Tree Hill was rarely violent.

The two woman sat down at the table and Brooke couldn't help but add, "Wow, you too look like shit."

"Still look better than you." Jaime fired back bitterly.

"You wish."

"Guys don't start." Lucas and Peyton said simultaneously, before glaring at each other.

Peyton couldn't help but start, "Jinx you owe me a coffee."

Lucas merely smiled, then looked away as if stung by the sight of her. "What happened to you two, did you get hit by a train?" Brooke asked.

"Nah, just Skills and Fergie." Lucas offered politely.

"What?" Peyton demanded angrily. She couldn't believe it, Skills was never in fighting. She glared at Lucas and Jaime, "What did you do?"

"Breathe, I'm assuming. Walk, possibly that." Jaime offered sarcastically.

"It must be something, you guys must have started it, Skills is never like that." Peyton shot back, glaring at Jaime through emerald eyes.

"Maybe, maybe not. I'm guessing he's only like that when he's in love with you." Lucas replied, and Peyton gave him a look of horror.

"He told us." Jaime told her, before she could ask. "So what brings you two angry, bitter women to this nice café, having breakfast with us, your sworn enemies?" Jaime asked.

"I am not bitter." Brooke exclaimed angrily.

"Well I'm obviously not here for Lucas and his long winded speeches or the awkward moments we'll be having soon." Peyton bit off sarcastically.

"It'll be awkward now that you said that." Jaime said snickering.

"I do not give long winded speeches, Peyt." Lucas said scathingly. "Just good ones." He added.

Peyton didn't bother to reply.

"We're here for you Jaime, well that and to catch up with Lucas." Brooke said airily.

"Really both of you, same time, same bed?" Jaime asked snarkily, a bemused grin on his face.

Peyton and Brooke groaned.

"I'm almost tempted to fuck you just to get me out of your system." Brooke exclaimed, then her eyes widen in surprise, surprised that she even said that.

Jaime had the balls to laugh. "You should, and you'd be like drug, I wouldn't get you out of my system, ever." Jaime responded with a smirk. "I think you just want to get me out of your system Brooke." He added, whispering.

"Dream on Jaime." Brooke snapped.

"Hey you're the one who said, '_I'm almost tempted to fuck you…' "_ Jaime exclaimed, and Lucas rolled his eyes.

"Key word being almost." Brooke shot back.

"Meaning next time you'll be tempted to fuck me, and the time after that, you'll fuck me." Jaime replied, oozing arrogance.

"I can't believe him!" Brooke shrieked, looking at Peyton.

"Let's get straight to business." Peyton interrupted.

"Here in the café, shouldn't we take it back to the hotel?" Jaime asked, and Peyton glared at him in contempt.

"Look, we like your freestyle last night, and we're wondering if you'd be interested in doing a demo? You don't have to accept, but it'd definitely make us, all of us a lot of money if we promote you right." Peyton continued, ignoring his previous question.

"Meh… too troublesome. I'll pass." Jaime replied.

"What!?" Brooke shrieked. "How could you not want to do this, it's the opportunity of a lifetime?" She demanded.

"I don' wanna." Jaime offered politely.

"Why not? It could be some serious money." Peyton asked.

"I already have 'serious' money." Jaime drawled out.

"Oh my God, can we kill him P. Sawyer?" Brooke begged.

"What could I offer you to make you sign for at least a demo?" Peyton asked.

"Your vagina."

"Let's kill him." Peyton told Brooke and Lucas busted out laughing, nearly falling over the chair.

"Please, be serious. What can we do?"

"Who said I wasn't serious, Peyt? You're sexier than Brooke in your own way." Jaime said, laughing.

Brooke reached over and smacked him.

"Did you smack me because I haven't seriously answered, or because you're jealous?" Jaime asked, and the two females glared away.

"C'mon." Lucas said, nudging Jaime in the ribs.

"A'ight… Look, I'll do the demo if I get a date with Brooke, and Lucas gets one with you Peyton." Jaime bargained.

"No." Both women said at the same time.

"That's fine, we have nothing more to discuss then." Jaime said, dismissing them.

Peyton looked over at Brooke, realizing that Jaime indeed was serious.

"I'm not asking for much, each of us gets one night with one of you. The night could end in sex, or not, that's up to you. Just one night." Jaime said.

"I can't go on a date with Lucas."

"I can't go on a date with Peyton." Lucas spat scathingly.

"Fine." Brooke caved, and Jaime smirked cruelly.

"Fine, how about this, if you refuse the date, then let Lucas get to know Sawyer." Jaime offered.

"Hell no." Peyton spat, and Lucas look dismayed. He had allowed himself a small glimmer of hope and Peyton destroyed it like he destroyed her heart.

"One of the two Peyt, balls in your court." Jaime said gently and Lucas could of hugged his best friend. He was thinking on a whole different level, not only was he trying to secure a date with Brooke, but he was thinking of him the whole time.

That was a best friend.

"The date, no kissing, no hand holding, no sex. Something simple and in return you record a five song demo, are we understood?" Peyton demanded.

"Wow sounds like fun." Lucas bit off sarcastically.

Peyton look like she wanted to smack him.

"Look, Jaime if you blow up, you're looking at a fat paycheck, easily a one hundred thousand sign on bonus, plus a cut from each CD sold, and touring." Brooke said, her eyes lighting up at the thought of money.

"I'm not interested in touring, that is really troublesome shawty, and as for the sign on bonus, I'll either donate that to Sawyer or give it to someone who needs it." Jaime replied, and Peyton gave him an odd look.

"Why would you give it to my daughter, someone you don't know?" Peyton asked.

Jaime shrugged. "Because if you have a chance to do something good, why wouldn't you? Think of me as like a nice uncle." Jaime responded.

"I don't even know you. You've never seen my daughter, don't be stupid." Peyton snapped.

"It might be stupid I know, but I'd like to think that if Lucas was allowed to be her father, I'd be her uncle. I've never been anyone's uncle, so it feels nice to have something you'll never have." Jaime spoke sadly. "Lucas wants to be her father, Peyt. He's definitely not running away like last time. I know what it's like to be denied the chance at fatherhood, don't do that to Lucas.

"Like I told you last night, Lucas can still be saved, because some can't." Jaime finished, and Brooke's eyes almost watered up at the speech.

"You and Lucas got the speeches down pat, huh?" Peyton said snarkily, and Jaime smiled sadly.

He shrugged. "You can think of it as just a speech, but you can't blame Lucas for not being there as a father, maybe for not being there for you, but don't make him to be a bastard of a father." Jaime replied.

Lucas almost raised his eyebrows at that.

"Why's that?" Peyton demanded.

"Lucas is now a well known author. Even here in this fuck dump of a town you'll come across best sellers. If you wanted to get in touch with him, you could of, but you didn't." Jaime accused.

"You have no right…" Brooke shrieked, and Jaime gave her a stony glare through his shades.

"He's right." Lucas added.

Before anymore could be said, Brooke's phone rang. She looked at it and picked it up. "Hey Hales. You in town?" Brooke asked, but was cut off by a shrieking Haley.

"Whoa, slow down Hales, Nathan's in the hospital?" Brooke asked.

Lucas immediately jumped to his feet.

"What?" He roared, almost spilling his coffee.

"Sodium Hypochlorite poisoning… he ingested bleach?" Brooke demanded.

Haley continued to cry and sob on the other line as she told Brooke what was going on.

"Yeah, let me try to book some flights…. Let me call you back in a minute Hales, I'm so sorry. Will he be alright?"

Haley hung up after a second.

Brooke looked ready to cry. "What's going on?" Lucas demanded, his eyes wide in anger.

"Apparently Nathan drank some bleach, a lot of it and he's in critical condition. Haley is going to meet us up at your beach house until we can get some tickets to go to Chicago. They don't know if he'll make it." Brooke said regretfully.

Lucas eyes watered. His second day, and then this. Perhaps he should have stayed in Florida after all.

He grabbed his Motorola Razor and immediately called the Tree Hill airport and was on the phone for a few minutes. "Don't worry about it." He said, then hung up.

"What's up?" Peyton asked.

"No flights to Chicago until tomorrow. Jaime, you up for a drive? Please I have to see my brother." Lucas begged.

"No sweat, we'll get on it." Jaime replied, concern leaking into his voice.

"Let me come with you, I just got to pick up Haley." Brooke begged.

"I should come too, Nathan's a close friend, Haley too. I'll ask Dan to look after Sawyer while we're gone." Peyton said. She was biting her bottom lip and trying not to cry.

Lucas didn't bother as tears began streaming down his face. "Nathan man…" Lucas said, and sobbed quietly. Before Jaime could help him, Peyton's arms found their way around him as she hugged him, forgetting about her previous notions and convictions and thinking of helping the boy she once knew and loved… and still loved.

"Fine, we'll take the SUV, we'll follow behind you." Brooke offered, and they agreed, Jaime left a fifty dollar bill on the table, then the four of them headed outside. Jaime unlocked the Mustang and hopped in.

"Haley's at the Tree Hill Inn, do you remember where that's at?" Brooke asked Lucas.

"Yeah, we're staying there." Lucas replied, hopping into the black pony car.

Peyton and Brooke hopped in the SUV and cranked the ignition and the two cars roared off as they headed out.

They pulled into the hotel minutes later, Lucas and Jaime running out to grab a quick overnight bag and a case of Heineken for road beer. Lucas was anxious and in the mood to drink and Jaime wasn't going to deny him in this case.

Outside the stumbled into a crying Haley who promptly slapped Jaime for his remark the night before and he ignored her and climbed in the car.

**IV**

They had driven for a couple of hours before climbing onto 1-70 in West Virginia, the white Escalade doing it's best to keep up with the black pin striped Mustang, whose driver insisted on changing lanes and cutting people off at 90mph. They had made very little stops, just a few so the girls could pee or so the guys could fill up on ice for the beer and food for nourishment.

A couple hours later they arrived in Chicago, using their GPS to take them into the city and into Chicago Memorial Hospital where Nathan was at. Once they arrived there after making their fourteen hour, 900 mile trek, they were denied access to the room because it was after visiting hours.

Driving to the closest hotel, a cheap three star Econolodge Lucas booked two rooms and the guys crashed in theirs and the girls in their own.

Sunlight beamed through the curtains forcing them up at 8:00A.M., and they got dressed quickly but they were unprepared for the cold, brisk weather of Chicago. Meeting the girls outside, they decided to take the Escalade and leave the Mustang behind after keeping the room for another two nights, just in case. They arrived at the hospital, where they were flooded with paparazzi, all of them wondering exactly why Nathan Scott had ingested bleach, especially after the mandatory urinalysis.

Ignoring the frantic reporters, the five of them pushed their way through and got the room number from the hospital clerk, who directed them to the wing where Nathan was at.

The took an elevator five stories up and rushed to the Critical Care wing, though they only allowed Lucas to see Nathan as he was the only actual family there. Apparently ex-wife's or sister-in-law's didn't count. "We'll wait." Jaime offered, placing his hand on his best friend's shoulder for support.

Lucas nodded and headed over to Nathan's room, while the rest of them took a seat. "So isn't this awkward, three women I've pissed off in one day." Jaime asked, trying to lighting up the mood.

Haley ignored him and began crying, leaning on Peyton's shoulder for support, who gave Jaime a stony glare.

"Like I said awkward, I'll be around." Jaime said, standing up to walk away.

Brooke grabbed his arm. "Wait for me."

Jaime nodded and pulled the brunette up to her feet. "Hey, I'm not an invalid you know." She protested.

"No you're not, I just couldn't keep my hands off of you, B. Davis." Jaime replied, and the two began to walk in silence to the elevator. They went downstairs and headed down to the cafeteria.

"This doesn't count as our date does it?" Jaime asked with mock concern.

"Think of it as a freebie." Brooke replied with a small smile.

Sitting down at one of the tables, they both ordered a coffee to get caffeine in their systems and wake them up. "So why are you so pressed on getting to know me?" Brooke asked reflectively after a few seconds.

Jaime gave her a smile and she felt captured by his smoky gaze. "Why wouldn't I?" He replied honestly.

She couldn't help but feel the tiniest bit giddy at that. A warm, fuzzy feeling crept up on her, warming her mid section. "Because you don't know me." Brooke replied shortly.

"Well isn't that the whole point then?" Jaime asked, smiling at her.

"Yeah, but there must be a reason, an ulterior motive at least." Brooke asked.

"Not really. I'll be honest, my ex fiancee was an avid fan of your magazine…" Jaime began but Brooke interrupted him.

"You were about to get married, what happened?" She asked.

"She cheated, got knocked up by my boss, and then died." Jaime replied bluntly, before looking away.

"I'm so sorry, I shouldn't of asked…" Brooke apologized. Green eyes meet hazel, and Jaime placed his hands over hers.

"Don't be, I would of asked you the same thing if I'd been in your shoes." Jaime replied.

"You're different." She commented after a moment.

"Of course I am." Jaime said, release her hands.

"I don't know you but there's two sides of you. There's a bitter, Southern slang, shit talking version of you, but there's a softer side of you who happens to speak complete English, albeit with a sexy southern drawl…" Brooke shut up after a second. "I'm going to shut up now." She added.

"Maybe it's just when I'm with you." Jaime replied.

Brooke seemed to brighten up at that. "That's so not fair, Jaime. What do you want from me?" she asked hesitantly.

"You, in any way, shape, or form." Jaime replied.

"So if I told you I wanted to be friends and that's it, you'd settle?" Brooke asked softly.

"Yeah, but I wouldn't like it, I won't lie." Jaime said, "I'm sorry for being an ass last night." Jaime apologized.

'Don't, it's part of your charm. Even if you are a bit off-putting." Brooke replied. "My life's so hectic, I don't know if I'm trying to start something serious, so I don't want to lead you on." She said apologetically.

"You're not going to, never in my wildest dreams did I think I'd actually meet you. Seeing you, talking to you, and kissing you, that's a blessing enough to last me a lifetime." Jaime replied softly.

Brooke gasped, surprised at his admission, remembering what Lucas told her.

"You can't mean that." Brooke exclaimed.

"I can, I do." Jaime responded, before reaching over and cradling her face. Tracing her soft, smooth skin with his thumbs, he lowered his head and kissed her again, claiming her lips with his. "I like you, you're so fucking sexy it's driving me nuts." He added, as he pulled away.

Brooke remained silent for a second. "What about Peyton? Don't you want her?" Brooke asked quietly.

"Why, when you're around." Jaime whispered, kissing her again, his confidence raising. She melted under his lips, her gut warming up as a heat built up in her stomach, one that hadn't been there in a while.

"What about Peyton, don't you want her too?" Brooke asked, pulling away.

"Peyt's hot in her own way. But I want you, I've wanted you for a long time now. Not to mention, even if Lucas or Peyton won't admit it, they still love each other, it's only a waiting game before they start fucking again." He replied, laughing as he kissed her forehead.

"You're making this hard Jaime, I can't commit right now." Brooke exclaimed, desiring his touch.

"You're making me hard Brooke, and I'm not asking you to." He stated, letting her go. "I'm asking you to eat a quick lunch with me in the cafeteria. Stop worrying about what hasn't happened yet." Jaime added.

"Ugh…" Brooke replied, frustrated. "You're so irritating."

"Get used to it." Jaime bit off snarkily, before kissing her cheek.

**V**

Lucas didn't know what to think as he stepped into his brother's hospital room. He was nervous, scared, overwhelmed, happy, and terrified. He hadn't seen his brother in two years, and given the circumstance, it was not the way he wanted to see him. Waking in, he saw Nathan unconscious on the bed, his skin pale and pallid. His lush, dark hair was matted to his head, and he looked almost deathly, IV's breaching his skin, and Lucas broke down seeing him.

His brother lay there, a broken man for someone so young and Lucas didn't know how it could of come to this. It was his fault, if he hadn't run away to Florida without looking back, maybe he could of saved Nathan, his marriage, and only then as he regarded himself with the upmost contempt did he even notice the other person in the room, crying softly into her hands.

"Hey." Lucas said numbly, not really knowing what else to say.

The crying female looked up at him, tears streaming down her pretty face. "Who are you?" she cried out hoarsely.

"Lucas Scott… Nathan's brother." Lucas replied.

"You're _him_… the one who abandoned him. What are you doing here?" she asked.

"I know I wasn't there for him, but I want to be now. Who are you by the way?" Lucas asked.

"Taylor… Taylor Scott, Nathan's wife." Taylor replied, looking over at her husband once more before crying hysterically.

"What happened?" Lucas asked gently, walking over to his sister-in-law and wrapping his lean arms around her for support.

"After my sister Haley left him, Nathan got into some dark stuff… he got addicted to cocaine. There was a urinalysis, and he tried drinking bleach to detox, but I guess he drunk too much. His coaches been calling him, and I don't know what to say. He'll lose his job over this." Taylor cried, sniveling into his chest.

"It'll be alright, if I have to, I'll take care of both of y'all, I promise you I won't abandon him again." Lucas replied, tears streaming down his cheeks.

"Lucas…" Nathan croaked out, his voice hoarse and raspy.

Lucas immediately ran over to his brother's side, tears splattering over his Nathan's chest as Lucas sobbed over his brother's fragile body.

"You're here…for me?" Nathan asked rasping. His hands reached out for Lucas, clasping his feebly.

"Always, from now on, always little brother." Lucas replied.

"Where have you been?" Nathan asked, ignoring his sobbing wife in the corner.

"Does it matter?" Lucas asked gently, "I'm here now." Lucas added.

"I missed you, you know… then Haley left me man, and you weren't there." Nathan accused, and Lucas had the decency to look away in shame. "But you're here… here and now, and that's all that matters. Please don't run away Luke, I don't even know who I am you know." Nathan pleaded and Lucas sobbed harder into Nathan's already damp chest.

"I'm so sorry. I shouldn't have left." Lucas exclaimed apologetically.

"I understood why you did, I always had. I've tried to hate you, but you lost everything, and you didn't know how to deal. Haley didn't lose anybody when she abandoned me and I forgave her, why wouldn't I forgive you?' Nathan asked.

"Peyton, she'll never forgive me…" Lucas stated, "Everyone hates me, and I don't blame them, I just want everything to be like it used to." Lucas continued, before drying his eyes.

"You can't have that. The past is long gone, you can only better the future. Prove it to me and everyone else that you're worth it, because we still love you, even Peyton."

"Enough about me… Nathan cocaine?" Lucas asked, bewildered.

Nathan was quiet for a second, so Lucas clarified. "I'm not judging you bruh, I just don't understand how you of all people…"

"I've made an ass of myself." Nathan stated. "I've cheated on my second wife a lot, because I never loved her, not in the way I loved Haley you know. She was my first love, she ruined me for everyone else." Nathan proclaimed, though he had long since realized that his wife Taylor was there, sobbing into her hands.

"I tried, I really did with Taylor. But the road games, and being still strung up on Haley, it just didn't work out. Gatina from high school, she's been sleeping with me for the last six months. She's the one who gave me the stuff, and it all goes away. Jaime, Haley, and you. I'm high and you're all gone…. Felt too good to stop in the end." Nathan committed.

"Taylor loves you, why would you do that Nate?" Lucas asked, though he too felt guilty in his heart, thinking of what he'd done to Peyton.

"That's why I did it. I loved Haley, and she hurt me so many times. Taylor loved me and I figured it'd be karma to hurt her. I really did care about her, she's a great woman, but to be honest, I married her because she was Haley's sister, not because…"

Taylor let out a gut wrenching sob, and Lucas wanted to help her, but his main concern was Nathan. Taylor stood up from her knees, walking over to Nathan's bedside and gave him a kiss on the cheek. "I love you Nathan Scott." Taylor whispered, before slipping off her ring and sliding it into his fingers. "But I see it's not enough." Taylor added, disappearing out of the room.

VI

Jaime and Brooke had finished breakfast, and had returned back upstairs, trying to be subtle and not look like they'd been making up the last couple of minutes. Smoky green eyes met hazel, and smiles lit up on their faces between the two young adults.

"We can't do this." Brooke said apologetically. Jaime looked dismayed, but faster than she could see, he shut his emotions off. "At least not in front of them, not right now, Jaime." Brooke amended, giving him a slight smirk.

Jaime arched his eyebrow, but said nothing.

Peyton and Haley were still sitting, waiting for Lucas, though Haley had a huge handprint on her face. "What happened to her?" Jaime asked, nodding his head at Haley.

"Her sister, Nathan's wife came running out crying about Nathan and slapped her, accusing her that it's Haley's fault Nathan's in the hospital." Peyton bit off, angry at Taylor.

"Can't really blame her." Jaime replied. Peyton sucked her teeth in anger.

"What did you say?" Peyton responded, ire leaking through her voice.

"I said, 'Can't really blame her.' " Jaime shot back sarcastically. "Haley dumps Nathan and leaves him with kid. Nathan meets drugs, drugs almost kills Nathan… Not saying it's right Peyt, but I can see why she'd say that." Jaime clarified, returning the glare.

"When you put it like that…" Peyton trailed off.

"How do you think Haley's putting it in her head?" Jaime asked. "I think its messed up Nathan went what he went through. She obviously didn't love him and that feeling's the worst in the world…"

"Shut up, you know nothing. I loved Nathan!" Haley spat, standing up to her feet, her face flushed.

"Really, you did? Before or after you left him?" Jaime asked.

"I had touring to do. Nathan pushed for the divorce, I just gave into it." Haley replied, tears streaming down her cheeks.

"I could see why making music's more important than your husband and child. Nice logic there." Jaime shot back and Haley cried harder.

"Shut up, you don't know anything! Don't make her feel bad for Nathan's mistakes." Peyton shrieked at him, anger burning bright in her eyes.

Brooke could see a confrontation rising up between the two. "P. Sawyer, I'm sorry but I'm going to have to take Jaime's side on this. Nathan chose to do what he did, but it was Haley's leaving that caused him pain." Brooke interrupted.

"God, you really do want to fuck him!" Peyton exclaimed angrily.

"Maybe. But that's like saying it's not Lucas' fault for leaving you alone and letting you raise Sawyer alone. Maybe it's not Lucas' fault after all." Brooke screeched, ignoring the small brightening in Jaime's smoky eyes.

"It's not the same." Peyton exclaimed.

"It's exactly the same, you condone it for Haley because she's your friend." Brooke replied, and Haley ran from the room, intent on seeing Nathan.

"You're an asshole, and you're a bitch for defending him." Peyton exclaimed angrily, before taking off after Haley.

"And you're a fuckin' hypocrite." Jaime replied under his breath. If it weren't for Lucas feeling what he felt for her, Jaime would have told her loud enough for her to hear him.

"Don't worry, she'll get over it." Brooke whispered in his ear. Her breath was soft, gentle and tickling, and suddenly her lips clasped over his earlobe, sending blood flowing to other places and his eyes darkened in lust.

"Brooke, don't lead me on. You have to make up your mind if you want me or not." Jaime retorted, his hands sliding to grab her waist.

"I want you, I just can't decide if I should indulge myself with you." Brooke rasped huskily, and it took all self control Jaime could muster not to grab her and spread her legs for the entire world to see.

"I'm worth it." He replied hastily, before pulling away, a devilish smirk on his face.

"What if all I can give you is one night, or two, but never more?" Brooke asked gently, and Jaime's eyes narrowed.

"It'd be karmic, but I'll take what you give me." Jaime replied.

"One night at a time. That's all I can give you, I've made up my mind." Brooke stated, and Jaime smiled genuinely.

"As long as each night ends with you and me orgasming, I'll take that shawty." Jaime retorted, pulling her flush to his lean body.

"Not tonight, or the next, I want you to seduce me. I want you to torment me like I'll torment you, to want each other so bad I wake up every morning with soaked sheets. Then and only then, will we have our 'sexy time explosions'." Brooke contested, burying her face in his chest.

"Now you're making me want to wait. The Great Jaime actually wanting abstinence, you're something else B. Davis." Jaime purred, his nose assaulted by the scent of peaches and cream.

"You can't say my name like that." Brooke mumbled, more to herself.

Jaime didn't bother to ask what that meant.

He was going to shut up and take it one night at a time.

Dream On Dream On Dream On  
Dream until your dreams come true  
Dream On Dream On Dream On  
Dream until your dream comes through  
Dream On Dream On Dream On  
Dream On Dream On  
Dream On Dream On

Sing with me, sing for the year  
sing for the laughter, sing for the tear  
sing with me, if it's just for today  
Maybe tomorrow, the good Lord will take you away  
Sing with me, sing for the year  
sing for the laughter, sing for the tear  
Sing with me, if it's just for today  
Maybe tomorrow, the good Lord will take you away......

End of Chapter 3

A/N: Hey, sorry I couldn't get it out any faster. Regretfully it pains me to say, I'll be deploying for a week and a half and I'll be able to get some writing done on the boat, but it'll take a bit to update, so thanks for your reviews and your patience. See you in a bit, and please feel free to let me know what you think of this chapter.


	5. 4 Crosshairs of Your Lust

The Simplicity of Eternity

Chapter Four: Crosshairs of Your Lust Pt. One

AN: Hey readers, I'm actually working on this two part chapter from aboard the USS Harry S Truman, bailing on work to dish you guys another chapter.

I

"What is _she_ doing here?" Nathan demanded, looking over at Haley, his ex-wife. He had been caught up in a great touchy feeling moment with Lucas, and her interruption was less than desirable at the time. She was a relic of his past, reminding him of a world with Haley, and one without coke, Taylor, or even Rachel. He never had gotten over her, still loved her, yet letting her see him in such a vulnerable state made his stomach revolt at best.

"She was worried man, Taylor called her and let her know what happened so we all drove up here." Lucas replied.

"Now she cares?" Nathan shot back sarcastically, glaring at Haley with all he could muster.

Haley stood there, receiving so much hate from Nathan, it was making her unduly comfortable. "Nathan…" she began, doing her best not to cry and look like an idiot in front of him. "Are you insane, you could have killed yourself you idiot. Do you know how hurt me and Taylor would have been?" She demanded, and Nathan ignored her, looking away.

"What do you want? Here to lay claim on what's left of my heart, touching. Go back to wherever home is and stop trying to feel less guilty for what's happened, because I don't forgive you, nor will I ever, and hopefully not Jamie." Nathan snapped back.

His words cut deep and Peyton immediately jumped to Haley's rescue. "Hey, don't be an ass. At least she's here trying to make up for it, maybe you should give her a chance." Peyton snapped, her eyes widening at the implication she had set herself up for.

"Really Sawyer, get out of here with your hypocritical bullshit." Nathan growled out, but before Peyton could even defend herself, Lucas had already interfered.

"Don't take it out on us, we came to visit you." Lucas said snarling, his blue orbs taking in Peyton's frail form, shaking with anger. "I get your upset at Haley, I would be too, which is why Peyton's pissed at me. I understand that, boss, it's only going to serve for me to work harder for her trust, until she let's me be a father to our daughter." Lucas continued, empathizing for Peyton. "She's trying to be here for you, and you keep pushing away just like Peyton, are you any better than her?"

Nathan and Haley glared at each other for a second, until Peyton cleared her throat, only serving to further the awkward moment.

"Lucas, c'mon perhaps we should just leave the two of them to talk?" Peyton spoke up, her brows furrowed disbelieving as if she didn't know why she said that. She told herself she didn't want to see or talk to Lucas Scott anymore than necessary. Maybe if he were the old Lucas, the one she loved and still was in love with, maybe it'd be easier. But the Lucas in front of her was so different and so alike to the man she loved that it made it difficult for her to process thoughts properly around him.

Jaime was hot, and easier to like, she herself had to admit. Mainly because she never knew him, so getting to know him now, she never knew what to expect. She could see why Brooke was infatuated with the green eyed Puerto Rican, but he was not Peyton's type. He'd be a guy she'd get drunk and sleep with but never have something serious with. Not that she slept around, but she already knew it would never amount to anything with him. The two of them had too much emotional baggage, him more than her from the looks of it, and was so irrevocably perverted and masculine, it took away from the good in him.

Not that she knew all that was good about him, but at the same time, he had an animalistic nature to him, rough around the right edges that could make most women ooze between their thighs.

Any woman but Peyton.

She needed Lucas, despite her vehemence to him. She needed the Lucas who saved her from death, who she kissed in the middle of the library. She needed the Lucas who made sweet love to her in their first and only coupling. The one who she spent the summer with, the one who took care of her as she threw up in the hotel in Charlotte.

But he was gone, replaced by a rugged, cerulean-eyed stranger. One who talked differently, dressed differently, and didn't want her. She didn't want to be in a world where Lucas didn't want her anymore.

Because she wanted him and loved him, and that hurt more than she could admit. The two stepped outside the room, they locked eyes and were silent. "I hate you." Peyton exclaimed pitifully after a second.

Lucas raised an eyebrow. "You brought me outside to tell me you hate me?" Lucas replied scathingly. "Go figure." Without so much as another word, Lucas turned around and headed away from Peyton, but not before he heard a statement that shocked him to the core.

"I hate you because I still love you, even after everything." Peyton admitted softly.

Lucas couldn't breathe for a second as she held his gaze under her green-eyed scrutiny. It felt like he had gotten punched in the stomach, his lungs felt constricted, as if made of paper. Suddenly his nerves returned to him, and he walked towards her, a determined look in his face. She thought he was about to kiss her, when instead she was faced with a cruel scowl as his eyes blazed in anger. "Don't fuckin' patronize me Peyt." Lucas warned.

"I'm not…" Peyton started, but couldn't find the words.

"You want to make me suffer?" Lucas demanded angrily. "'Cuz that's what you're doing! I'm sorry I had the greatest night of my life with you, and then ran away like a coward. I'm sorry I came back two years later to find out that you've moved on with Skills and my daughter. I can't take that back, but don't stand there looking at me like you mean it when you say you love me. Don't be so cruel…" Lucas broke off, his blue eyes watering.

"I'm not being cruel to you Lucas, you're being cruel to me!" Peyton exclaimed angrily. "And I haven't moved on to Skills, yeah he's in love with me, but I never moved on. It's you Lucas, you're the one I want next to me when all my dreams come true. I hate that… that you have that effect on me, because it's not fair. I would have given you the world Lucas, and you… you ran, the night after we had sex. Do you know what that did to my self-esteem?

"For a year I wonder if it was me. Was I not good enough? Was that it? Did I not love you enough? All that I wondered, because you ran when I gave myself up to you. That night was so fucking special, and…" Peyton trailed off as she broke down and began crying.

Tears streamed down her face, and Lucas couldn't help but wrap his arms around her. Her thin arms wrapped around his waist in return, and he inhaled the sweet scent of vanilla and lavender in her hair. His shirt was wet, but at that moment he didn't care. "You're good enough…" he spoke gently, his lips pressed against the top of her hair, her soft blonde curls tickling his face.

"Then why did you…" she never finished the statement.

"It was because of me. I loved you then Peyton, so much it hurt to think of what would happen if I lost you. I just lost my father, and my mother. I almost lost you that day too, and I realized that I couldn't take it if I lost you too. You're so good Peyton, I never moved on. I still love you, and I still loved you the last two years. I loved you so much, my last two novels were letters to you, I hoped that you'd find me and we could pick it up where we left off. The Unkindness Of The Ravens was all about us, from the get go, to the day I left Tree Hill. But my first book was called 'The Comet', like your car.

"It's about a boy who meets a comet one night and waits all his life for it to return. I was telling the world and myself how much I loved you without meaning to. You'll always be good Peyton, better than I'll ever deserve." Lucas finished.

"You should have let me make that decision." Peyton exclaimed and pulled away from his warm embrace. The two locked eyes and were about to kiss until they noticed another pair looking at them. It was Jaime and Brooke, looking very couplish as Jaime had his arm slung around Brooke's neck, and both had a smile on their face.

"What's up Jaime?" Lucas asked, shooting his best friend a knowing grin.

"Meh…you're too troublesome." Jaime replied, "I don't know, I was about to find you and tell you we're going to head out. We can't really see Nathan until he leaves Critical Care so we're going to go watch a movie and hang out for a bit until y'all fina head back." Jaime stated calmly, looking over at Brooke to see if she approved.

She gave him a small nod of encouragement and the two headed off. While Lucas was happy for Jaime, his untimely interruption ruined what could have been a kiss between him and Peyton. The mood was ruined so the point was moot, yet he couldn't stop himself from being a little disappointed.

Peyton pulled away from Lucas. "Do you want to talk?" Peyton asked, gesturing to the waiting area.

Lucas nodded, smiling a little. Perhaps he and Peyton still had a chance after all.

The two shuffled over to the waiting area, and took a seat next to each other. They sat silently, wondering exactly what the other would say. Lucas took the initiative and opened his mouth. "So, the pregnancy, was it difficult?" Lucas asked, barely able to stammer the words out.

She frowned for a second, though not in anger, but rather disbelief. She hadn't thought he'd be considerate enough to ask how her pregnancy had been. "Hard. I was alone, and then I found out I had this cancer in my ovaries and might not be able to carry full term without a miscarriage. Months of wondering if my baby would die any second, but Sawyer pulled through. The delivery took six hours, and thank God for an epidermal." She added as an afterthought.

Lucas looked solemnly for a second. "God this sucks… I wished I had been there for you. I'm…"

Peyton interrupted his apology. "What did you do in Florida?" she asked. He looked at her, a little confused, so she elaborated for a second. "I mean, I know you wrote your books obviously, but over two years passed, so I kinda wanna know." Peyton continued.

"Before I met Jaime, I was struggling to make ends meet. I was writing as much as I could while juggling jobs. Eventually I ended up as a car salesman for imports, selling Ferraris, Porsches, and Lamborghini's to all the rich people in the area. For every car I sell, I get thirty percent profit so I ended getting a hefty chunk of change. I continued writing and that year I released The Comet, but I didn't make too much off of it. I linked up with Jaime at this party, I was about to get jumped by this guy and he ended up making sure I didn't die… The messed up part was that at the party I couldn't stand him, all confident, arrogant, everything I wasn't. I couldn't get over you and he was the life of the party, all eyes on him.

"After he saved my ass, he was released from the Navy. I don't know the details, just that he was forbidden from flying and got a chunk of change for disability. He'll get that until the day he dies, but Jaime didn't care about money, it was too materialistic for him. All he loved to do was hit on women, drink and work on cars, and race his Mustang. Before we left Jacksonville, me and him formed an exclusive Mustang Racing organization and were racing all through Florida, getting sponsors and making a lot of money, too much to be exact.

"I guess he tired of it, me too to be truthful. I had released The Unkindness and by then I hoped you'd get a hold of me. Months later, I gave up thinking you'd come down and I continued racing and touring all over the US signing books. On his birthday, he had finished reading both books for like the sixth time and wanted to come to Tree Hill for his birthday. He knew, without me telling him that I'd been dying to return, and he wanted to see what I saw, so we came back as you see." Lucas explained.

Peyton took it all in. "Damn, so because of Jaime, you're here now?" she asked after a moment's pause.

"Yeah, but it's also because of you. Leaving you was the second hardest thing I'd ever had to do." Lucas replied softly, looking at her with unbidden lust and love burning a hole through her defenses.

"What was the hardest thing then?" Peyton asked.

"Coming back to you. I was so ashamed… but I had to know that you were okay." Lucas admitted.

Peyton gasped, realizing that Lucas like her had not moved on, that he loved her the whole time. "Where there others?" she asked after a second.

"Yeah, there were. Nothing that lasted though."

"Why's that?" Peyton asked gently.

"They weren't you. You're perfect Peyton, and not in the textbook definition either. To me, they just couldn't compare, so they tired of it eventually." Lucas replied passionately.

"I couldn't. I couldn't move on, I tried Lucas. But…" Peyton broke off.

"I imagine there's not much of a love life between being a mother and running your own label. So tell me about you, what all happened?" Lucas asked simply.

"Not much to say. I didn't want to do college, too boring for me. Brooke was an instant hit in the fashion market and was looking to branch out so she gave me a shot at running a music label. I've made money, but not a lot. Not many people want any part of an indie label. It's been six months and no artists until Jaime, and who knows how that'll turn out, but it's a start. For the most part, I've given Dan an equal partnership of Karen's café and worked at TRIC hosting some concerts and whatnot." Peyton replied.

"At least you've been doing okay in raising Sawyer. That's good." Lucas commented.

"Yeah, but only because you left me the café and the club, so in a way, you've been supporting our daughter even if you didn't know it." Peyton exclaimed, nearly whispering.

"I meant it when I said I want to be part of her life Peyt." Lucas stammered out awkwardly. "I can't be Dan, well the Dan he was then. I don't know too much about this new reformed Dan." Lucas admitted.

"He's been a great grandfather Lucas, you should give him a chance." Peyton commented.

Lucas nodded. "I will, but my main focus is for you to give me a chance. I want to be a father Peyton, and I still want you, I never stopped loving you." Lucas admitted. "I can't say I'm in love with you, because there's been so much time apart, but I love you like I loved you then, even if I never got to enjoy it for long." Lucas said passionately.

"I don't know Lucas, I can't promise there will be an 'us', but I'll let you be there for Sawyer. Just don't leave her. Maybe in time I can trust you, and then we can work towards something, but I can't give you my all like before Lucas. Not that easily, you want me, prove it. Work for it, show me that you're the one for me, that you love me like you say, but I can't do things as recklessly as before. Promise me one thing…"

"Anything." Lucas replied hastily.

"That if we don't work out in the end, you don't walk out of Sawyer's life." Peyton said, a nasty feeling rising in her stomach. She didn't want a world without Lucas, but she had to prepare.

"Fine, but the way I see it Peyton is that we're meant to be. I won't stop until we're together again, so if you ask me to run around the hospital screaming that I love you, I'll do it, right now." Lucas replied.

She raised her eyebrow in response. "Really? Do it then." She ordered disbelievingly.

Lucas grinned out her, and then took of running towards a crowd of people. "I LOVE PEYTON SAWYER!!!" Lucas bellowed to the crowd who looked at him as if he were insane.

"Lucas stop." Peyton shrieked in embarrassment.

"I LOVE PEYTON SAWYER." He continued yelling until one of the orderlies ran up to him.

"Sir you have to be quiet, we're in a hospital for God's sake." She barked at him.

"But I love her." Lucas exclaimed mockingly.

Peyton grabbed Lucas' hand and dragged him away. "Okay, that's enough, they're looking at you like you're a crackhead." Peyton said, chastising him.

"But I love you…" he whined pitifully.

"We'll get thrown out." Peyton begged.

"Fine."

"Thank you."

"Still love you though." Lucas added, causing her to blush and smile.

"I know." Peyton replied, sighing in defeat.

II

Haley and Nathan glared at each other for a long time, Nathan with much more emphasis. Nathan finally relented and spoke up, "Why are you really here Haley?" he asked, and she looked like she was about to reply when Nathan cut her off. "For real though. You must of come here to torture me, threaten to take Jamie away, something of the sort." Nathan stated sullenly.

"I'm sorry for being a bitch when I said that." Haley apologized, much to Nathan's confusion. Haley never apologized for anything. At least not this Haley. "I'm sorry I wasn't there for Jamie, or you because I was too busy touring and doing music. I should have prioritized better. But what's done is done Nathan, we made our choices and pursued our dreams. I know you're married to Taylor, and I don't love you like I did then, so I'm not asking for another chance to be with you. I'm not going to lead you on." Haley stated calmly.

"What are you asking for then? And even though me and Taylor are over, you don't stand a chance with me Haley, you lost that when you walked out on me again." Nathan replied tersely.

"It doesn't matter if you and Taylor are over. Nate, we'll never had what we did in high school, you're a coke junkie Nathan. You have primary custody of Jamie and you're snorting coke, and you're cheating on my sister with Rachel Gatina. I don't know you anymore Nathan, therefore I don't love this you. I loved the Nathan in high school who told me it was all going to be okay, the one who played basketball for the Ravens sober. That Nathan was the guy I was in love with." Haley replied.

"He died Haley, the day you walked out and left him with your son, he died and he's not coming back." Nathan said sadly. "The girl in front of me isn't the Haley I knew either. I loved the Haley who loved music, but loved her family more. The kind, caring girl who was meek and humble, who never though thought she was better than anybody. That girl was whom I loved, this woman in front of me isn't Haley Scott. She's not even Haley James, the girl I fell in love with and married.

"You're just some uppity bitch, who chose to leave me and Jamie to sell her soul to Hollywood. You chose to sleep with Chris Keller and whomever else you messed around with. Goddammit, you slept with Keller while we were married and I overlooked it to save us, just for you to throw us away. So before you get all uppity and call me a fuckin' cheater, remember how many times you slept with him while you were me. Don't fuckin' judge me, we made our choices so go fuck yourself. I don't need you, not now or ever, you're just dead weight with a vagina. Feel free to sign yourself out." Nathan exclaimed harshly, snarling as his eyes burned bright with anger.

Haley turned to leave, but not before calling out, "For what it's worth, I miss you, I miss us."

Nathan's blue eyes darkened. "Tell that to Jamie." He barked, "Because I don't miss you."

She looked ready to cry, but kept her façade up as she walked out of his room, but not out of his life.

Nathan's mind was stormy, as thunderclouds of anger and lightning thoughts reeked havoc and turmoil within him.

Seconds later, a man walked in his room and Nathan looked ready to faint. It was his coach, Coach Jameson. Nathan looked like a terrified rabbit, ready to cut out and run away. "Nathan…" Coach Jameson began, sitting down next to him. "What the fuck was you thinking? Drinking bleach, really?" His coach demanded, and Nathan's mind rumbled, trying to come up with an excuse as fast as possible.

"I'm sorry coach, but the night before I picked up this chick and she gave me stuff, and I was so scared when you called me the yesterday and told me about the drug test, and I didn't want to get kicked off the team, so I just drunk milk and bleach to get rid of it. But I drunk too much, I'm sorry coach, I just didn't want to leave the NBA, it's all I got. You know about what I've went through with my divorce and everything, and I couldn't take it." Nathan replied, apologizing profusely.

"I'm sorry Nathan, but you leave me with little choice. I don't know if I can buy this story or not, because now it's too late. If you would have told me, we could of spun the story to the media, you're not the only one the team that's been caught doing dope after work. But now that the Commissioner knows about it, they don't want you anymore. No team will take you even though they can't prove you were doing drugs. But you can and have been blacklisted, I'm sorry Nathan." Coach Jameson replied, and looked away as Nathan's eyes watered.

Everything he worked so hard for, he pissed away. With that, his coach gave him his release papers. "Nathan Scott, you are hereby released from the Chicago Bulls due to unexplained complications. You are entitled to receive payment for the rest of your contract, but without eligibility to renegotiate a new one. Thank you for your service to the Bulls and I wish you the best." Coach Jameson spoke sullenly.

"Fuck you!" Nathan barked angrily and the coach gave him a sad look.

"Fuck you Nathan. You had it all, all the talent necessary to become an icon here in Chicago, but you fucked up not me. Whatever is causing this anger you hold inside, get over it, or you'll never amount to anything." And with that, the coach disappeared from Nathan's life, or at least he thought he did.

He'd see Nathan again one day on a basketball court, surrounded by the cheers and boos of thousands watching them.

But Nathan Scott didn't know that either.

III

Marvin "Mouth" McFadden was having a bad day. Skills, his best friend was drunk and it was barely noon. He had woken up at eight in the morning and began guzzling down a bottle of Patron, waking up Mouth in the process. All he could do was let Skills sit there and cry about Lucas and Peyton, resulting in more alcohol consumption and with Mouth picking up Skills and taking him to his room and laying him in bed.

Not to mention, Mouth was still hurting from the River Court brawl the other night. He hadn't lasted long, Lucas had kicked him in the chest and taken him down. A dark blue bruise had formed on the middle of his sternum. The fucked up part was that he wasn't even going to jump into the fight unless he had to pull Skills or Forgive out of there. But he guessed that Lucas who had firmly planted his fist in Junk's face and his foot into Mouth misconceived his good intentions.

If he had been an innocent bystander watching the fight, it would have been awesome seeing everyone drilling each other, as the Ravens were known to do. But when the fighters were his best friends take on his old good friend Lucas and his unknown friend and that hurt him more on the inside than he should care to.

He hated his life, he was always the goofy looking nerd who never got the good girls. He was the one who had to watch as his friends got to hook up with Peyton, Brooke, Rachel, Haley, Bevin, and any other beautiful girl they wanted.

He was the guy who got stuck with damaged goods or women who seemed to leave him. In high school he was hopelessly in love with Brooke Davis, he knew he was way out of her league, but she was his first love, an inerasable marker on his life. Then there was the ex school president, Erika Marsh, she was so three years ago. After that there had been Rachel, who after months of pining for promised him the world with her 'You're worthy' speech that she'd probably given to a lot of guys in her time.

His last meaningful thing had been with Shelly, he could have loved her, he really could have. But her attachment to Clean Teens had created a divider between them like Moses' staff that he couldn't close. He lost her, and after that there was nothing. There was two years of him chasing women he couldn't have, and a handful of one night stands that left a gaping hole in his chest.

"Shee'll choose Llucas." Skills croaked out.

"If she's stupid she will." Mouth replied and Skills let out a smile, before curling up into bed, dreaming of the curly blonde with killer legs.

Something had to change in Mouth's life, because he'd be damned if he remained a friend forever.

IV

The two brunettes wiped the tears from their eyes. They had just got done watching the Forty Year Old Virgin for the first time and had laughed throughout the entire movie. At first Brooke had actually thought they were going to the movies, until Jaime pulled into the parking lot of the motel and swiped the keycard of his room. Somehow they ended up in his bed, cuddled up and still dressed ordering a movie.

Jaime pulled Brooke into his arms, pressing his lips into his forehead. "One night at a time." He said softly, grinning wolfishly. Goosebumps rose up in her arms, and she could do little but shiver against him.

"Tell me about you, I want to know about everything." Brooke begged. "I don't need to know all your history and social, but tell me about you J. Gines."

"Not much to say… I'm me, I've always loved music, I used to record with my friends, but basketball was a priority for me instead. I went to high school in Atlanta and played ball at Martin Luther King High. Freshman year through junior year I was small so I played point guard." Jaime spoke, nostalgia filling his voice.

"You were small, you're like six feet, six inches?" Brooke asked.

"Freshman year I was five six, by junior year I was five ten, and then in the summer before senior year I grew five and a half inches. I'm six feet, three and a half inches." Jaime replied.

"Back to the story." Brooke commanded.

"Well, I played hard in my senior year, and won the Georgia State Championships. I was wanted by all kinds of schools, but throughout it all, my dad, well he was never there. Throughout high school, he was always gone. He'd joined the Navy before I was born, and still is, he's some Captain that works at the Pentagon. But he'd never show up to my games, instead he sent me money and Navy brochures so I'd become a pilot like he was. It always about the Navy for him.

"To please him, I gave up my dream for basketball. I never played college ball, I ended up in an accelerated program for pilots. Normally pilots graduated college and then join but my dad hooked it up for me to start right after high school. I already had knocked off a good portion of my degree online, so it just helped me get in easier. I joined the Navy, went to OCS and then to Aviator's School for Armed Helicopters.

"I went to my command, nine months later I got kicked out. Met up with Lucas, became friends and now we're here." Jaime said, shrugging nonchalantly.

"Why did you get kicked out?" Brooke asked, frowning slightly. Jaime traced her cheeks with his thumb, before his lips grazed hers.

Pulling away softly, he looked at her with smoldering green eyes and began of the best way to tell her. "I joined the Navy because my ex-fiancée at the time was pregnant, and a pilot. She ended up in miscarriage. Months later she was pregnant again, and I couldn't be happier. One day I walked in on her and my Commanding Officer fucking in the one of the rooms. My Commanding Officer was sleeping with my fiancée, my boss was hooking up with her behind my back.

"I forgave her, overlooked it, until she told me it was his baby. I broke up with her and she was so depressed, that during a flight in Nevada she crashed into a power cable and the helo exploded killing everyone, including the baby inside of her. I went nuts, stricken with grief and attacked my CO, sending him to the hospital. I was so wild, so for that they took away my wings, and for the depression I was discharged for medical reasons, which is why I get a bit of change every month.

"My CO was nonchalant about it all. He didn't care that she died or that he slept with her. He told me how lucky I was for getting hooked up on the way out and that he was ashamed to have me as a son." Jaime declared, trying his best to swallow the bubble of anger that had surfaced.

"You're father fucked your fiancée, was he still with your mom?" Brooke asked, outraged.

"Yeah, and she knew it. By then she was so used to it, she didn't care as long as he had a steady income doing it. My brother and sister never knew, and I never told them that my dad, our dad had been to busy fucking secretaries for eighteen years to ever come see us. How do you break that down to a kid?" Jaime asked.

"You don't, I don't think you can." Brooke replied, kissing him under his jaw.

"I mean, I get ten thousand dollars a month out of it, but it took my pops fuckin' around with my fiancée and getting her preggers for that to happen. The excuse he offered was that he was looking out for me and a woman who'd sleep with him to further her career shouldn't be my wife. That's why I hit him that day, I would have killed my own father without so much as a second's glance, what's wrong with me?" Jaime asked.

"You're father's the one who's fucked up, not you." Brooke offered, sliding her leg on top of his to distract him for a second. "You're not perfect, but you're far from fucked up. It's what I like about you." Brooke whispered adoringly and his lips claimed hers in a passionate kiss, pulling her on top of him.

He immediately forgot his past in her arms, and took hold of the future he had in front of him. His lips were cruel and demanding, taking from her what he wanted, his tongue invading her mouth, his deft fingers around her waist, marking her as his. His need was rough and demanding so he pulled away from her lips and her hazel eyes looked into his jade ones.

"Keep kissing me like that and you might not have to wait long." Brooke rasped out huskily.

"I'll wait as long as you want me to. I don't think I could want you anymore than I do now, babe." Jaime fired back, smoldering her with his gaze. If he was the devil, she'd been on fire away, burning away in the fiery gaze he gave her then and there with those smoky jade eyes. He was burning her with his lust, and he was in the crosshairs of hers.

"Let's slow down." He added as if an afterthought. His breathing had returned to normal and his eyes seemed brighter, no longer darkened with lust.

"Let's not." Brooke fired back, her hand sliding down between the sheets to grab his dick through his jeans. Jaime let out a moan that sent heat flooding straight to her core, "I wonder what noises you'd make if I blew you, right now." Brooke added.

"Brooke that's not fair. If we're not going to have sex, don't say shit like that either." Jaime replied, capturing her bottom lip with his and sucking it, before invading her mouth with his tongue once again. She was driving him insane, her scent was in the air, her soft pink lips against his, pliant and responsive, and it took every grain of self control he didn't know he possessed to not rip her jeans apart and thrust his dick where he wanted it.

"Am I making it hard for you?" Brooke asked, her voice dripping with sexual innuendo.

Jaime grabbed her hand and placed it against his dick despite his previous statement. "Very hard." Jaime growled out.

"Well I didn't get you anything for your birthday…" Brooke trailed off.

"That's not fair, you didn't even know I existed."

"Happy birthday then." Brooke replied, and ducked under the sheets, straddling his legs as she unbuckled his belt. He froze up as she pulled the black belt free and unbuttoned his jeans and zipped them down. Brooke slid his pants off and slid his boxers down as well while Jaime took off his shirt and his beater, leaving completely naked and exposed to her.

"You, clothes off." Jaime commanded, grunting in dissatisfaction, as Brooke was still fully clothed.

Brooke looked into his blazing green eyes and did as he asked, freeing her body of it's clothed prison. Lust, open and barely restrained was visible in Brooke's hazel eyes as she took the sight of his body in. Jaime wasn't overly muscular like someone who was a fitness nut, but he had on enough muscle to look manly. His body was whipcord, stretched and taught muscles, with a lean, sleek body. His chest was rock hard as well as his bicep, an intricate tattoo on the right side of his sternum, a black and gold set of wings emblazoned there, leading her touch down to his defined abdomen.

His stomach was tight and six cuts in his abdomen were proof that Jaime Gines was an athlete, through and through.

Her excitement built, as she got lower, until she got down to the pelvic area, shaved flesh and her hand gripped the shaft of his dick, causing Jaime to groan and grunt once more. The sight of his dick in her hands was enough to turn her on even more; the long and thick appendage was at her mercy.

"You have a big dick." Brooke said accusingly.

"Of course I did, you can't talk all that shit with a little one. What, afraid you can't fit it in your mouth?" Jaime teased, until he let out another groan. Brooke had taken offense to that and ran her tongue across the head.

"Mothafuck…" Jaime whispered, then let out what could have been a purr as Brooke's mouth began to cover his dick, as much as she could. Her mouth was a hot inferno that swallowed him whole. "Jesus Christ woman!" Jaime exclaimed, his fingers in her hair massaging her scalp.

Her lips sucked on his shaft as her tongue made circles around the head, sending whipping into a crescendo of pleasure that made his knees buckle and his teeth clatter. "_Brooookkkee._" Jaime exclaimed dragging her name out. Her soft breasts were bouncing against his legs and he longed to touch them, but he was so far gone at the hands of one woman that all he could do was lay back and accept the judgment she was bringing him down.

Time passed, how much neither knew, simply put because it didn't matter. To them, they were in their own pocket universe, their own dimension in which only they existed and all mundane things such as time did not.

Brooke continued her ministrations on him, until heat began a slow burn at the base of the shaft. "Brooke, I'm gonna…" Jaime said, begging for either her to pull away or to continue as if she didn't hear him. He didn't have to make a choice, Brooke did.

"Fuuuuuucckkkk…" Jaime drawled out, and suddenly he came, flooding Brooke's mouth and throat with his essence.

"Happy Birthday." Brooke exclaimed after she swallowed, and hopped off the bed and headed towards the bathroom to wash her mouth out.

Jaime could only watch as she disappeared and wondered how he was so lucky to have this with her. He had just gotten some brain from Brooke Davis, multi millionaire and fashion icon. The woman he had wanted even while he was with Jackeline, if his memory served him correctly.

Running his hands through his hair, he hoped God wasn't cruel enough to take her away from him yet.

Brooke returned to the bed, climbing in with him, still in her lingerie. "How was that?" She asked timidly.

"Fuckin' perfect, shawty." Jaime replied, pulling her to him once again. "You didn't have to do that though." Jaime added, though grateful of what she had done.

"I know, but I wanted to Jaime." Brooke replied softly, an unnerving vulnerability rising up in her. This was the part where they left, where men had left her. She had been promiscuous in high school, and after the deed was done, they never wanted any more with her. Jaime would be the same, he truly wanted her, but now that he had gotten head from Brooke, he wouldn't want anything from her…

"Thank you for that Brooke." Jaime purred, and suddenly with cat like agility, he flipped her so she was on her back and his fingers were hooking her panties. "Your turn, Davis."

Brooke whimpered.

What had she gotten herself into?

V

Lucas and Peyton stood up and headed over to Nathan's room after Haley came out running, claiming she had to head back to Tree Hill. When Lucas and Peyton told her they were going to wait for Nathan and Jaime, Haley yelled at them for favoring Nathan and that she was going to fly back on a plane.

Peyton felt bad for her, she really did. Haley had come running out hysterical, tears streaming down her face and marring her mascara, but they had come all the way out to Chicago, just to leave at her convenience? "You could have left with her." Lucas pointed out bluntly. "I know she's your friend."

"She used to be your best friend Lucas." Peyton shot back.

"Not anymore. Not to mention, that's my brother in the hospital room, my flesh and blood." Lucas replied, and Peyton had to stop herself from rolling her eyes. Lucas could be so dramatic sometimes, but yet she found it endearing.

Opening the door to Nathan's room, Lucas saw his brother lying on the bed, an agitated look on his face. "I just got kicked off the Bulls." Nathan spoke, his eyes watering up in anger.

"Nathan, I'm sorry." Peyton spoke, truly feeling sorry that Nathan lost what he loved most in the world.

"Bruh that sucks." Luke offered, though he was more worried about Nathan's health, than the game he played. "So what are you going to do now?" he asked, genuine concern leaking into his voice.

"I'm thinking about taking Jamie to Tree Hill to see his family, he deserves that. But it will probably temporary, I don't know if I can live there." Nathan replied.

"You should, you can even live with me and Jaime, we're about to get a house." Luke offered.

"You gonna live at Karen's?" Nathan asked.

"Doubt it… I don' think I can live there." Luke replied curtly.

"Dan's living there, you know." Nathan stated, looking into his brother's eyes to see if he would get upset.

"That's fine with me. You can live there too if you want, even if Dan's a dick." Luke exclaimed and Nathan laughed.

"Still the Luke I remember, eh big brother?"

"In some ways." Lucas replied softly.

"You guys should probably go for a bit, they're gonna be running tests on me to make sure I'm okay and then I'm getting out of here tomorrow morning. Pick me up and we'll swing by the house and pick up Jamie, I'll contact a real estate agent to put the house up for sale in the meantime. After that, we can head out to Tree Hill." Nathan said, a little bit of the old him creeping up into him.

"No doubt. Did you want me to swing back in a bit?" Lucas asked.

"Nah, they'll be running all sorts of tests and I'll probably be tired. Just meet me here at seven tomorrow." Nathan replied, before his eyes closed in exhaustion.

"See you tomorrow Nate."

"By the way, who the fuck's Jaime?" Nathan exclaimed.

"Luke's new best friend. Tall, hot, sexy green eyes, pothead, blunt, and a basketball player." Peyton replied, and missed the furrowing of Lucas' eyebrows at Peyton's description.

The two blondes saw that Nathan was counting sheep and saw it was time to go. "Let's call Brooke and Jaime and tell them to come pick us up." Lucas pointed out, flipping open his Blackberry and looking up Jaime in his Contacts folder. After a few rings, a female voice picked up and squealed out a hello. It took a few seconds for Lucas to register that it was Brooke on the other side of the line.

"Hello." Brooke mewled out.

"Are you and Jaime busy right now?" Lucas asked, though he kind of knew the answer. He looked over at Peyton who had a curious look on her face. "I think Jaime and Brooke are having sex." he whispered and Peyton stop herself from giggling.

"What do you want right now, we're kind of busy." Brooke managed to get out. Lucas could her a slurping sound in the background and Brooke shrieking in delight.

"Oh my God… that's." Lucas pretended to gag and passed the phone to Peyton.

"What's going on?" Peyton asked.

"Jaime's going down on her." Lucas shot back, before falling over in a fit of laughter. "That bastard."

"Are you serious?" Peyton replied, before speaking into the phone. "Brooke, once you and Jaime are doing with your oral lessons, do you mind picking up me and Lucas?" she asked.

"Ugh… fine P. Sawyer, we'll be there in twenty minutes." Brooke fired back before hanging up the phone.

"Wow, that's a lot of unneeded mental visuals that will take a lot of therapy to get rid of." Peyton exclaimed to Luke exasperatedly.

"C'mon, you don't think he's hot with sexy green eyes?" Lucas asked, a tinge of jealousy in his voice.

"Oh my God, is Lucas Scott jealous?" Peyton asked and Lucas ignored her and began walking towards the exit, the need of nicotine rising as he attempted to bite down on whatever he was feeling at that second.

"C'mon Luke, don't be like that. He's hot, but so not my type. I don't like guys prettier than me." Peyton offered apologetically.

"No one's prettier than you Peyt, stop sellin' yourself short." Lucas called out, not once turning his head to look behind him. She followed him all the way to the exit where Lucas had stopped at.

He immediately reached into his jacket and pulled out a pack of Newports and a lighter, then fumbling with one in the box, he pulled one out and lit it. A cloud of smoke flew from his mouth after he inhaled and Peyt was glad she worked at a club or else she would of gagged.

She never had seen him smoke before, so the sight was a weird one. Though he had it down patented by the looks of it. "You smoke now?" Peyton asked, though it was a rhetorical question.

"No, the lit cigarette in my mouth is being smoked by an unseen force making it look like I smoke." Lucas replied sarcastically.

"It's disgusting." Peyton replied off handedly. "You're not smoking around Sawyer, are we understood?" She asked.

"Will you stop riding me, what are you Smokey the fuckin' bear? I smoke, I smoke weed sometimes for the shits and giggles. I drink and occasionally have booty calls. Any other flaws that you want to know of?" Lucas demanded.

Peyton looked at him, stung. "You forgot one. You're an ass, oh wait, I already knew that." Peyton returned.

Luke's blue eyes narrowed over at the curly blonde standing next to him, a haughty look to her face, hands placed on hips. She returned the glare in suit, and he was happy just to smoke the rest of the cigarette in silence.

"You look hot like that by the way…" Peyton spoke after a second. "I wasn't coming at you for smoking, but you just can't bring that stuff into my daughter's life, or even my house and life.

"You look hot all the time." Luke replied, not looking Peyton in the eye.

"Nice jacket." She commented off-handedly.

"Nice legs."

"Fuck you Luke!" Peyton exclaimed laughing.

"I wish you would, maybe we wouldn't argue so much." Lucas replied.

"You're going to have to wait a _while_ before we get to that point again." Peyton shot back, waiting for Lucas to look dismayed. He didn't, instead his grin grew. "What are you grinning about?" She asked.

"Because even you know it's inevitable." Lucas replied and Peyton smacked him.

"Shut up!" she replied. "First off, you don't know me, second, you don't know me." She said, mimicking her younger self. "Now you're starting to sound like Jaime, God he's a perv." Petyon complained.

"He's a smooth one though, in two days he's already got Brooke's legs spread and getting down with the get down." Lucas replied smartly.

"Don't ever say that again… like ever." Peyton snapped, a smile on her face.

…

"Where's my underwear?" Brooke asked, whining.

"Don't put them on, less work to get to what I want." Jaime replied huskily, sending shivers down Brooke's arms.

"That was a one time thing. Just a little birthday present and nothing else." Brooke said, her voice full of bravado.

"God, please don' tell me this is where ya start actin' like a bitch." Jaime bit off and Brooke glared.

"Do not call me a bitch!" Brooke fired back at him, and Jaime shrugged carelessly.

"Don' act like one, you fina act like a bitch, I'm fina call you one."

"God, why did I give you head? What was I thinking?" Brooke complained, more to herself then to Jaime or God.

She was walking around the hotel room naked, nervous as hell that after the phone call, Peyton would know what she was up to and would be disappointed. Jaime, wearing just a pair of jeans, still shirtless walked up to Brooke and grabbed her arm tightly.

"You were thinking about how sexy I was and how good it'd be to suck my dick." Jaime replied roughly, spinning her around and pushing her against the wall. In a flash, his fingers had found her sensitive nub and had her mewling all over again. "I was thinking about how sexy you were and how good it'd be to lick your pussy. Get over it." Jaime finished, pulling away from her.

"God you're insufferable." Brooke exclaimed.

"You forgot insatiable." Jaime said, grinning wolfishly.

"Screw you." Brooke replied, an angry frown marring her features.

Jaime pressed his tightly bound whipcord body against her soft, pliant one. "I'm sorry I'm a dick sometimes." He said genuinely, before pressing his lips to the nape of her neck. "God I can't think straight around you." He confessed, his arousal pressing into her stomach.

"I want you." Brooke confessed, tilting her face towards his, claiming his lips in a searing kiss.

"I don't want this to end, not ever shawty." Jaime drawled, "But for now it has to, can't leave Peyt and Luke alone too long, they might end up making another baby." He said, pulling away from her.

"You're right." Brooke agreed, kissing him chastely. She turned and continued searching for her clothes. Jaime lit up a cigarette and decided to help her.

"That's a nasty habit." Brooke commented, and Jaime chose to ignore her. He saw his shirt and picked it up to put it on and saw Brooke's black lace panties fall to the floor. He grabbed them and held them up for her.

"These it?" he asked.

"Yes, give them to me." Brooke commanded, holding out her hand as she walked over to him.

"What do I get out of it?" Jaime asked, taking a deep drag of his Newport.

Brooke's eyes widened. "You bastard… fine, maybe you'll get another present later." Brooke said grinning.

"Get dressed, you still don' get it." Jaime replied, tossing the panties to her and heading towards the door.

He was a bit _miffed_ that she didn't get the cryptic meaning behind his words. How much more plainer could he put it. As much as he loved the birthday present, he didn't want just presents, he wanted Brooke Davis attached to them. The whole package with her. He was addicted to her, completely unlike the marijuana or cigarettes he smoked. Those two he could toss away if he needed to, but he couldn't with Brooke Davis.

He couldn't pretend he didn't love every second of her _present_. Or every little argument or banter he'd gotten into with her the last three days. He'd slept with a lot of women, he was a known womanizer in Jacksonville but now for the first time in his life, he encountered a woman that he couldn't quite fully get a grasp of. He tasted her, touched her, felt her, kissed her, but he didn't have her.

And that scared him.

Because he wanted more, for the first time since Jackeline Rivera, he wanted a woman for more than just his selfish wanton needs. Perhaps she was karma embodied, dragging him to the nasty pit of fire that he deserved to be in.

He didn't deserve to be happy after all.

Smoking the rest of his cigarette, he tossed it aside carelessly and Brooke finally emerged looking beautiful as ever. She had on some apple bottom jeans, fur boots, and a black Vera Wang top, covered by a black windbreaker.

March in Chicago was still a bit cold.

He himself had on a pair of black H&M jeans, black and green Nikes, a green epaulette short-sleeved shirt, and a green flight jacket he wore as pilot. Throwing his black Aviator's on, the two of them were part of opposite worlds and both were teetering in the in between.

"You look nice." Jaime offered awkwardly.

"What was that all about in there?" She asked, waiting for him to open up the door to the car. He unlocked them and stepped inside, grabbing the keys to ignite the car. The white Navigator's engine growled and he shifted into reverse to meet up with Lucas. The twenty minutes were almost up and the hospital was ten minutes away.

"Oh, it's nuffin'." Jaime replied quickly.

"Tell me…" Brooke begged.

"Thinking of a song to write, the lead single of this demo you and Peyton want me to work on." Jaime replied nervously.

"Why are you bugging out about it?" Brooke asked.

"Song's bout you." Jaime said, taking a small breath and waiting for Brooke's reaction.

"What?"

"Yea', it's called 'Crosshairs of Your Lust'" Jaime replied.

"What's the song about?" Brooke asked shiftily.

"Me wanting you. It's simply about how I'm stuck in your crosshairs, about how I'm waiting for you to pull the trigger of your 'gun' and end the waiting." Jaime spoke, before busting out laughing. "I know it's stupid, but the chorus keeps repeating in my head in a weird loop and I can't get it out."

"It's not stupid Jaime… sing it for me." Brooke begged.

"I only got the hook down right now." Jaime said hastily, trying to avoid the weirdness.

"Please, it's sweet that you dedicated your first single for me." Brooke exclaimed, looking at him with her hazel eyes, pulling Jaime in.

"Fine." He stated with a pout.

"Burning in your hazel eyes, makes me wanna trust,

Feels so good to touch you, must be my luck,

I wanna promise you the world, but the world's not enough

I'm stuck, I'm stuck in the crosshairs of your lust,

Pull the trigger, set me free,

I wanna fuck you, let me be,

I wanna promise you the world, but the world's not enough

I'm stuck, I'm stuck in the crosshairs of your lust"

"Kiss me, right now." Brooke demanded, and pulled him towards her for a kiss. Her kiss was invading, demanding even and Jaime had to keep his self control in check. He wanted nothing more than to throw her into the back of Peyton's Navigator and fuck her brains out. He kissed her with so much need and want, yet submitted to her lust.

He truly was stuck in the crosshairs of her lust.

…

"Where are they?" Peyton growled out.

"In a hurry to get away from me are you?" Lucas asked, grinning at her.

"In a hurry to get away from you and this cold." Peyton shot back, cold smoky air leaving her breath in wisps.

"Come here." Lucas offered and Peyton hesitated, but he didn't. Lucas grabbed her around the waist and pulled her flush to him and wrapped his arms around her.

"You can't do that." Peyton complained.

"I did though." Lucas replied and she laid her head in the crook of his neck. Her scent was tantalizing him and he brushed all impure thoughts from his head, before blood began to flow where it shouldn't.

"Hey mo'fucka, you about to work on Sawyer number two?" Jaime screamed at him, honking the horn on the Navigator.

"Son of a bitch." Lucas cursed and Peyton felt good, knowing that Lucas felt upset to have their moment interrupted.

"I hate him sometimes." Peyton offered and pulled her face out of Lucas chest and faced him. Their lips were inches apart, but Peyton couldn't do it yet. Blushing, she turned and jumped into the Navigator. Lucas took a deep breath and followed suit.

…

Back at the hotel, Peyton and Brooke entered their single room alone to find that Haley indeed had left, leaving them a note on the bed saying that she was sorry but she couldn't be around Nathan right then and there.

"So what'd you and Jaime do alone in the movies?" Peyton asked sneakily, a devilish grin appearing on her face.

"We didn't go, we ordered one in the motel and watched it on the bed." Brooke admitted, a small blush rising on her pale cheeks.

"You guys did it, didn't you?" Peyton asked, her emerald eyes brightening.

"Not really." Brooke replied, cringing.

"What does not really mean?" Peyton demanded, a haughty look on her face as her lips quirked.

"Well he was so sexy, and smooth and he wasn't even asking for sex or nothing. He was being so sweet, we were kissing and then, I don't know, I kinda gave him a blow job." Brooke confessed, and Peyton started laughing.

"Oh, I figured it was him giving you the oral." Peyton replied, disappointed for her friend.

"That's the thing… he was so hot and I expected him to be a dick, well he was, much later, but he returned the favor and enjoyed it. He got off on going down on me, it was weird, but really hot at the same time." Brooke replied nervously.

"That's insane." Peyton stated disbelievingly.

"I know, and he was so _good_. I've had some decent oral before but he's something else, I've never had that many orgasms off oral alone. He's like sex on wheels." Brooke exclaimed, an odd sensation trailing across her stomach.

"Wow. Wanna swap?" Peyton asked jokingly and Brooke punched her in the arm.

"Don't even." Brooke warned.

"J.K. just kidding." Peyton replied quickly, laughing.

"So what happened between you and Lucas?" Brooke asked.

"We made up, he told me he loved me, I told him I still loved him. Then he told me he wasn't in love with me, awkward moment, stupid montage in my head, and we almost kiss twice." Peyton admitted, rolling her eyes when Brooke started jump and down repeatedly.

"You and Luke are so getting back together." She pointed out.

"Maybe." Peyton said grinning. "C'mon, have you seen the new Luke. He's into fashion, leather jackets, longer and spikier hair, makes smoking sexy. He's droolable… that's not a word by the way." Peyton exclaimed in frustration.

"He is that… Jaime's definitely hotter." Brooke said matter-of-factly.

"Jaime's hot, but c'mon it's Lucas…" Peyton whined.

"C'mon, have you seen that tan of his, he's Puerto Rican, tall, spiky black hair, more fashion sense than Lucas, sexy fucking southern accent, and those eyes of his… I wanna fuck him." Brooke confessed.

"Then do it, what's holding you back?" Peyton asked.

"I don't know if I'm ready to commit, and I think that he does. What if I fuck him and he gets needy and I don't want him anymore? I don't wanna hurt him…" Brooke explained.

"Then he'd rebound and get over you Brooke, trust me, he'll be in no shortage of women should you choose to back out later… Ellie once told me that every song ends, whether it fades out or ends in a resonating clash, doesn't mean you shouldn't enjoy it while it's playing." Peyton confessed.

"Thanks P. Sawyer, it means a lot. But what scares me the most is what if I don't stop wanting him and he doesn't want me?" Brooke complained and Peyton understood what she was coming from. She suffered through two years of it and only today had she truly found her answer.

Peyton's phone vibrated, someone had texted her.

I'm sorry if I made you uncomfortable, but please ma, don't go back to Lucas, I love you. Give me a chance to prove my worth.

It was Skills. Peyton looked at the phone in shock, her eyes widening.

It's okay. Look Skills, I love Lucas, I never stopped and you know that. I'm sorry but I don't feel the way you do and now Lucas is back trying to make amends and be there for Sawyer and I can't deny him that. He wants to be with me, and I don't think I can deny him that either.

Peyton texted back.

"Whose that?" Brooke asked.

"Skills." Came Peyton's short reply.

Brooke didn't reply.

I've been there for you and Sawyer, and he hasn't… its not fair Peyt. But if that's how it is, that's fine. I love you and that's not going to change, but I can't watch you throw it all away for him like I threw it all away for you. I love you and good-bye, you won't see me when you get back.

Peyton looked at the phone in horror. What was she going to do?

Don't be like that, Skills, don't make me choose between you and Lucas.

Peyton didn't have to wait long for Skills next text.

You already did, and you picked Lucas… I've going to Duke, I just wanted to let you know how I felt before I left. Don't bother to text back.

Peyton's eyes watered as she covered her face in her hands and began to sob in earnest. People always leave… in her sobs and Brooke's concerned questioning, it took them a second for them to hear the door being knocked on.

Peyton saw Brooke open the door casually, expecting to see Jaime. It was Rachel Gatina.

"What's up bitches?"

Fuck… was all Brooke could think.

End of Chapter Four

A/N: Hope you enjoyed the chapter, since I certainly enjoy your reviews. As usual, the boat sucked, but I was able to squeeze out a near 11,000 word chapter in between fourteen hour shifts. Please be kind and review and let me know how you felt about this chapter. I've decided to accelerate the fic a bit with Brooke/Jaime, and Peyton/Lucas based on people's reviews and due to the ending and sequel planned out already. Yes there is a sequel, just to let you know. Thank you all for motivating into writing not only another chapter, but make me plan the end of this story and the beginning of the next. Until later.


	6. 5 The Return of Lucas Scott

The Simplicity of Eternity

Chapter Five: The Return of Lucas Scott

Daniel Nieves

Author's Note: Sorry for the delay, here's the quick explanation… I finished the first draft of the chapter, writing about 6,000 words but I wasn't happy with it. So I scrapped it and wrote another draft, except my computer crashed and now I only have about half of it, infuriating me to the point where I refused to re-write it to its original closure. So know you'll never see that version of the chapter, which truly was interesting, bringing the first arc to an end. This chapter does the same thing essentially, but rather slows the plot down, unlike its hasty predecessor.

**I**

The two best friends were tired, immediately slumping down into their beds, and simultaneously reaching for their pack of Newport cigarettes. Pulling one out of the box, Lucas lit it up with his silver Zippo, closing the lighter with a click. He'd been smoking so much now that it seemed futile to even attempt to go cold turkey. Plus with each passing day since his return to Tree Hill, the events which took place consecutively brought him closer to a possible cancer ridden end.

If someone had told him when he'd left Tree Hill years ago, he would of fathered a beautiful baby girl (which he had yet to see by the way, but he knew she was beautiful) with the sultry, moody Peyton Sawyer, a byproduct of his longing and pain he'd felt on the day right before he ran away, Lucas would of probably squinted and asked you to repeat the statement. Or that he'd become best friends with a Puerto Rican ex-pilot, turned loner stoner by the name of Jaime Gines, that would of seemed farfetched a long time ago.

Blowing smoke into the air, he realized so did everything else that had occurred. Skills hating him and falling in love with Peyton, or Jaime and Brooke, ugh… Nathan playing in the NBA only to become a coke junkie and screw Rachel Gatina. He had a hard time believing that Nathan and Haley even separated, and that Nathan was jack ass enough to marry Taylor, Haley's sister out of spite a few months after the divorce was settled.

"Did you ever imagine coming to Tree Hill would amount to all this, bruh?" Lucas asked Jaime.

Jaime looked at him quizzically, before responding, "No, not in my wildest dreams." Lucas grinned, and Jaime returned it.

"Good thing or bad?" Lucas asked.

"Good, I can almost picture you when you were younger based off the novel alone. Playing at the River Court and hanging out at Tric, and all that stuff. I could see that." Jaime replied, before blowing some smoke out of his mouth, and then tilting his cigarette sideways over the ashtray to dump some ash in. "its powerful man… Tree Hill is, nothing like the big cities, makes me wish my family would have been raised in one, but I still think the end would have been the same, I'd still be pretty hot and stealing your chicks left and right." Jaime added, smiling, his eyes lighting up in laughter.

"I'm glad you like it… so you and Brooke?" Lucas replied, giving Jaime a wary glance.

"Damn, you don't bullshit around it do you Lucas?" Jaime shot back, giving him a sideways grin.

"No, to be frank she's my friend Jaime." Luke responded, giving him his trademark squint.

"And what am I?" Jaime fired back indignantly.

"My best friend, you know that mayne. But I've known Brooke for a long time and I don't wanna see her hurt, you know what I mean? She's a special girl and she deserves better than the pain I gave her in high school, and I don't want to see her hurt like that again." Lucas explained.

"Me neither. Lucas you know I don't front women, I tell exactly how I feel and what I think is gon' happen' between us. I don' lie, especially when I know what it feels like to be lied to. Brooke is a special lil' shawty and I feel something when I'm with her, and I like that feeling, ya dig?" Jaime exclaimed.

"As long as you don't lie to her, we'll be straight." Lucas replied.

"I'm not bruh, I may be a bastard and far from perfect, but even I recognize the wifey material that Brooke is." Jaime said solemnly.

"What's up? You sounded depressed for a second there? What all happened between you and Brooke?" Lucas asked.

"We hung out, she gave me head and I returned the favor." Jaime summarized. "Of course it wasn't as simple as that, but it's been so long since I thought of a woman as wifey material that, I don't know, I just froze right now. I've never even considered a woman worth it since Jackie, and Brooke's slowly crawling her way into my heart, and it scares the shit out of me." Jaime admitted quietly.

Lucas dumped some ash into his ashtray, before replying softly, "She's not Jackie, don't punish her for Jackie's mistakes Jaime." Lucas chastised.

Jaime didn't bother to reply. Instead he grunted and grinded his cigarette out on the ashtray and stood up.

Reaching onto the drawer, he grabbed his phone which had vibrated twice before returning to its silent state. "I'm guessing' that was Brooke?" Luke asked, before yawning. "Fuck, thank God we're just going out for dinner and not actually going out…"

"Yeah, that was Brooke. She said for us to dress up, that she and Peyton are dragging us out to some club after dinner, but it won't be until ten. It's barely four so we have like five hours to sleep." Jaime replied.

"Fuck, spoke too soon." Lucas said berating himself.

Jaime opened up the Motorola Razor and fired a text back to her. '**A'ight, dress sexy babe.**'

A few moments later, he received another text. "What she say?" Lucas asked, trying to get the full disclosure on the tonight's event. It was his first time actually taking Peyton out on a date, since they never really got to do that before.

"Well I think this one's more for me than for you, but I told Brooke to dress sexy, and she replied and told me she's not wearing underwear." Jaime said snickering.

Lucas groaned and crawled back into the comfort of his bed.

Jaime jumped into his own minutes later.

…

Lucas got up around eight at night, his nerves were fried and he could barely get any sleep in. That and he dreamt of getting killed by a great white shark, random huh? Crawling out of bed, he grabbed his towel and a fresh pair of boxers and his Irish Spring soap gel and jumped into the shower, scrubbing away thoughts of Peyton and a set of Great White teeth.

After showering for a long time, he slid out of the shower and dried himself, before jumping into his boxers and exiting the bathroom. Seeing that Jaime was still asleep, Lucas decided to play a prank he'd always wanted to pull on Nathan but never had the chance. Grabbing a cup, he headed back into the bathroom and filled it with hot water.

Walking back out to Jaime's bed, Lucas grabbed his motionless hand and dipped his fingers in the hot water. According to the myth, Jaime should be pissing himself right about now…

"I'm awake you fuckin' prick." Jaime called out sleepily.

"For how long?" Lucas demanded.

"Since you been in the shower, fucktard. My friend, that prank was one of the biggest acts of douchebaggetry since Judas kissed Jesus." Jaime exclaimed, pulling his fingers out of the hot water, and tipping the hot water onto Lucas' boxers.

"That burns you fuck!" Lucas shouted in pain.

"No shit." Jaime said laughing. "Now it looks like you pissed yourself, lemme grab my phone." Jaime exclaimed, jumping up out of the bed.

"Nooo!" Lucas roared, tackling Jaime to the ground before he could reach the dresser. Jaime flipped Lucas over him and Jaime grabbed the phone flipping it open. At the same time, Lucas grabbed Jaime's ounce of purple haze he had sitting next to Lucas' bed and snatched it.

"Close the phone or I'll flush it." Lucas threatened.

"You…asshole." Jaime said groaning, letting the Razor fall to the floor with a soft thump as it hit the carpet.

Jaime kicked the phone over to Lucas' feet and Lucas tossed the small bag of weed over to Jaime. Jaime clutched it to his chest like it was his baby. "Precious… mine's… my precious." Jaime exclaimed, before depositing it in the first drawer of his dresser.

"Get showered you bum. We gotta be ready before the girls are, and uphold the man's tradition of waiting on women to get ready." Lucas stated and Jaime nodded, grabbing his towel, a fresh pair of black boxers and his Dove beauty soap, before heading into the shower.

"Fag." Lucas called out jokingly as Jaime disappeared into the bathroom, but not before flipping Lucas off.

Grabbing his own phone, he texted Peyton. '**I love you Peyt.**'

Lucas walked over to his walk in closest, and pulled a pair of Sean Paul light blue jeans, a dark blue long sleeved button up shirt, a loosely fitting black undershirt and a pair of black dress shoes. Swapping out his wet boxers with dry ones, he put his jeans on and grabbed his black belt and buckled it, before sliding his feet into his dress shoes he'd copped at JC Penny back in Jacksonville. They had been pretty good looking and only seventy bucks to top it off.

Throwing on the black undershirt, he tucked it into his jeans before sliding into the dark blue button up, leaving his top two buttons unbuttoned and then rolled his sleeves up to his elbows. Walking over to the mirror he grabbed his hair gel and spiked his hair, leaving it intentionally sloppy since he knew Peyton liked it like that.

After that he topped it off with two sprays of Dulce and Gabana's Light Blue cologne to make sure he smelled good. He would leave his cigarettes here in the hotel tonight, for one to smell good, and two to show Peyton he did have some restraint and would show some around his daughter.

Jaime came out the shower a few minutes later while Luke was sitting on the bed playing NBA LIVE 06 on the PS2, full swagger on deck.

Jaime headed over to his closest and pulled out a pair of pair of black Rocawear jeans and his white Air Force 1 low tops. Grabbing a black beater, he pulled it over his head and framed his muscular body as it stuck to him. After the beater was on, he grabbed a long sleeved white, button up epaulette shirt with straps on the shoulders and at the elbows to roll them up and pin them. Emblazoned on the back of the shirt was an eagle in flight, its wings outlined and tipped in black.

To finish the look, he grabbed an Atlanta Braves fitted cap, white with the 'A' in black and placed it on his head, before cocking it to the side. After a pause, he tossed the hat to the side carelessly, before heading back into the bathroom with Luke's hair gel. Ten minutes later, he stepped back out, and Lucas looked at him warily.

"Okay, really where the fuck is Jaime?" Lucas demanded, taking in his best friend's new look. Jaime had spiked his hair upwards in short, thick black spikes, and his face was almost completely clean shaven. The thick beard was shaved, and the only facial hair that remained was long, thin sideburns that came down to the bottom of his jaw. There was no mustache, no goatee, and no beard. Jaime had in a sense, redesigned himself, even if only for a night. But the miracle was in the act itself that he had done this for Brooke. In the year and some change that Lucas knew Jaime, he also knew that Jaime was vain and never cared what the opposite sex thought about him. So the fact that he had gone so far to please Brooke was so unlike him, it stupefied Lucas momentarily.

"Whose gonna DD tonight?" Lucas asked. He knew that he and Jaime would surely be drinking if his best friend had any say in it.

"No one." Jaime replied.

"How so, we can all fit in a cab?" Lucas asked genuinely.

"No, but we can all fit in a limo." Jaime replied and grabbed the cell phone and dialed in three numbers, before bringing the phone to his ear as he sat on the bad.

"Huh?"

"Chicago, Illinois." Jaime stated calmly, a bored expression on his aristocratic features. "Limo Services." He added, and then he sat up and walked outside.

Lucas assumed that he had dialed in 411 to get a hold of a limo company in the area. Lucas' phone vibrated gently in his jean pocket and he pulled out his trusty Nokia and saw Peyton had texted him. '**Hey**, **we're almost ready, you'll never believe whose here… Rachel Gatina, your brother's **side** girlfriend.**'

Rachel Gatina was in the hotel, in Peyton's room. This could not turn out good, especially with Jaime Gines in the general vicinity. Luke hung his head down and only hoped for the best.

**II**

The three friends hugged each other, and talked for a little bit, reminiscing about the old days in Tree Hill, before Peyton excused herself to go try to get a hold of Skills and convince him to stay. After seeing Peyton's hasty departure, Rachel arched her eyebrow at Peyton's disappearing figure and asked casually, "What's that about?"

"Skills apparently fell in love with her and gave her the ultimatum of picking between him and Luke and when she refused to, he told her he was leaving for Duke to play basketball on a scholarship." Brooke explained.

"Wow, loads of drama in Tree Hill still… good thing I left." Rachel exclaimed sarcastically.

"Yeah only to cause your own drama. Why are you fucking Nathan Scott, a married man?" Brooke demanded.

"Don't judge me, he's really hot, rich, and a great lay." Rachel replied snippily.

"I normally wouldn't care since sleeping with the wrong men was always your gig, but hooking Nathan on cocaine? I should fire you Rachel… what the hell were you thinking?" Brooke demanded.

"How do you know about that?" Rachel asked, dangerously quiet.

"He had a urinalysis and tried to get it out of his system using bleach and overdosed!" Brooke snapped.

"Is he alright?" Rachel demanded, genuine concern in her voice.

"Yeah, but barely. He had some sort of seizure but now he's getting released tomorrow. He was kicked off the team Rachel. He can't play basketball because you introduced him to that stuff, I'm so pissed at you right now that…" Brooke said dangerously. "Whatever, if you want to keep doing all the cocaine you want, and we'll see if you still have your job a year from now… but Nathan's coming with us, back to Tree Hill with Jamie, and you're going to stay the hell away from him." Brooke added angrily.

"Alright… I'll lay off the coke. But I really like Nathan…" Rachel complained.

"Stay the hell away from him Rachel, you ruined his life. I can barely recognize him anymore… if you can stay coke free for a bit and check yourself into rehab and if Nathan _wants_ to see you then it's fine. But until then, you should be more worried about keeping your modeling job at Clothes over Bros. I'll be giving Victoria a call and see what she wants to do with you…" Brooke spat, and turned her back to Rachel.

"Please don't call Victoria, you know how she is… we're friends Brooke!" Rachel begged, tears springing to her eyes.

"I'm friends with the wild, but coke free Rachel Gatina. The pathetic junkie in front of me now, I have no idea who the hell she is… see yourself out." Brooke replied harshly.

Sobbing quietly, Rachel turned and ran with all the energy she could muster.

…

Peyton had no idea what she was going to do. She knew she wouldn't be able to convince Skills anyway, not over the phone, he was way too stubborn and it would take a face to face confrontation to get to him. Conversations on the phone could be hung up on, or the call itself ignored. She didn't really want to see Lucas right now, it was too weird around him as it was.

She had tried closing herself off to him, she really did. She had hated him and loved him in his two year self imposed exile, and in his return, she had summoned up all the anger but it was to no avail. He had charmed his way back into her heart, resurfacing up the old feelings in her, but bringing out new ones at the same time. He didn't look too different nowadays. He still had the same captivating blue eyed gaze that had frozen her on several occasions as she stared into his aquamarine depths.

His blonde hair was still spiky and sloppy, the way she had always liked it, and while he dressed differently and talked differently, in more ways than she liked to admit, there was a lot of the old Lucas Scott still in him. Rather than the old North Carolina drawl, he sounded like he a mix between Floridian and Georgian drawls. He was a bit more upbeat now, rather than the broody teenager she had first met, and a lot more daring and extroverted than the shy basketball player he'd been.

Yet he was still defensive of her, still fierce and passionate in his words as he wooed and seduced Peyton.

Still loving.

He was already begging to be a part of Sawyer's life, when she had honestly expected him to bolt again. He was warming his way into her heart, making it flutter and beat faster than it ever did in the two years without him.

Looking over she saw Jaime standing alone, his back to the wall and she decided to talk to him, which beat the alternative of talking to Lucas or the plastic bitch by the name of Rachel Gatina who was still in the room with Brooke.

Ugh, she had to pretend to be nice to her until she had left when the whole time she wanted to slap that conniving bitch upside the head.

Jaime too was also interesting she realized, more than she had first gauged. She had overlooked him, figuring him to be another pretty boy with no substance to him. But rather she found that he was fiercely loyal to Lucas, and while at times completely bastardish and off-putting, he was honest, even if it was to a fault.

She knew without a doubt that he had charmed his way into the pants of many women, and while she didn't know his back story and couldn't judge him, she wouldn't of anyway. There was a weight to him, he carried it wherever he was at and she was curious. While on the outside he was confident and full of swagger and arrogance, at times she stole a glance and saw a saddening expression to his features that he'd quickly cover up with an emotionless façade.

"Hey…" Peyton called out, bringing the tall Puerto Rican out of his reverie.

"Hey…" He drawled, appearing to look completely disinterested at life itself. She felt his smoky green eyes on her for a second, before looking away and up at the moon which was currently holding his interesting.

"Whatcha doing?" Peyton asked.

"I don' know." He admitted quietly, and Peyton saw the double meaning behind it. She herself was the same at times, saying one thing and meaning something parallel to the first statement.

"Here's a secret, no one ever does." Peyton replied with a small smile, which he returned. His hair was up in black spikes and he had shaved, to a nice effect. Rather than the trimmed beard and goatee, he looked more like the guy he was trying to hide, than the asshole he presented himself at times.

"Prolly, I think that's what life's 'bout. Not knowing what you're doing or where you're going and making something out of it. To think that two years ago, I was a certified Navy pilot and now I'm an aspiring artist and basketball player." He responded, raising his eyebrows at her.

She gave him a quizzical look. "You used to be a Navy pilot?" she asked.

"Yup, the youngest in history. Jus' like my pops." He confessed softly.

"Do you see your family often?" Peyton asked.

"Not anymore... me and the old man had a fallin' out some time ago. I guess neither of us let it go. I haven' seen my brother and sister in so long, or my moms, ya dig?"

"You should see them one day. Family's important, I'm a mother I'd know, I bet your mother misses you, and your father too." Peyton replied.

His eyes hardened into cold green pits of death. Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out a Newport, before bringing it up into his lips, his hands shaking in anger. Lighting up the cigarette, he calmed himself down considerably. "My mom maybe, my pops… doubt it." He admitted, quiet fury leaking into his voice. "Doesn' matter anymore." He added, with a tone of finality letting her know to drop the subject.

Suddenly Brooke and Peyton's door opened and Rachel Gatina came running out, crying as she left. "What the…" Peyton muttered, and then watched as the door to her hotel room slammed shut. "I'd better go see what that was about…" Peyton told Jaime who merely nodded.

Taking one last glance at him, she saw the haunted eyes boring into the sky as the pale moonlight reflected onto them, smoke curdling around his figure like a willowy ghost, before the chilly wind in the Chi-town blew the smoke away.

Peyton headed back to her room, opening the door cautiously as she stepped inside and saw a fuming Brooke on the bed. "Okay B. Davis, wtf! What was that about?" Peyton exclaimed, looking over at the brunette.

"I threatened I'd fire her if she didn't lay off the drugs and stay away from Nate. I don't even recognize her anymore, what the hell was she thinking?" Brooke demanded angrily.

"I don't know… you know how she is…" Peyton exclaimed dejectedly.

"She wasn't always like that Peyt! It wasn't until she started working for Victoria in Clothes Over Bros Chicago that she changed." Brooke replied defensively.

"Well anyway the guys are all dressed and ready for us. Are you ready to go?" Peyton asked. For tonight she had chosen a form fitting green blouse and tight blue denim jeans with black and green Adidas sneakers. She was going to be dancing after all, it wouldn't be particularly practical to be in high heels like Brooke.

Brooke had definitely decided to show out in a tight black Vera Wang dress that stopped at mid thigh. Her hair was pulled back in a single ponytail with a single bang hanging down her face. She had applied a little bit of makeup, a smidgen of mascara but mainly the smoky eyeliner and Peyton knew her best friend would have Jaime under her thumb tonight for sure. The question was what would happen with her and Luke while Jaime and Brooke were doing their own thing. She knew it was too soon for them to have sex, at least while their feelings were still raw and undefined, but with the mixture of alcohol and Lucas, Peyton didn't know exactly how much she'd be able to hold back.

"Let's go." Brooke exclaimed nervously. Apparently she too like Peyton was nervous about the double date that was about to ensue. The two best friends walked over to the closet and grabbed their coats, Peyton grabbing the brown leather jacket that belonged to Ellie while Brooke grabbed an elegant black pea coat that she'd bought at Banana Republic.

Opening the door, the two were pleasantly surprised to find a sleek, black limousine awaiting them. Lucas and Jaime popped their heads out of the sunroof, each clutching a bottle of champagne and hollered out for them to get in.

Peyton smiled at Brooke. 'Men!' They both thought simultaneously.

Lucas ducked under to open the door for them and allowed them access into the stretch Escalade that they had rented out for the night. Once the girls entered, they slid out of their coats and jacket only for the guys to leer at them hungrily. "What?" Peyton demanded self consciously.

"You look beautiful." Lucas stated unapologetically.

"Don't look at me like that." Peyton replied.

"I don't even gotta tell you how you look…" Jaime said and saw Brooke's dismayed look. "But fuck, Brooke you are the most gorgeous woman I've ever had the pleasure to lay my eyes on." Jaime added.

Brooke smiled at him. "Stop teasing." She replied smiling at him.

"That's not teasing, I showed you teasing already." Jaime responded, giving her a wolfish grin.

"Where to?" Peyton asked.

"We were thinking of heading down to this Italian restaurant downtown called Feliciano's." Lucas replied. "What club were you ladies trying to hit up tonight?" Lucas asked.

"There's this place called Underground of Chicago, I heard it's the best nightclub in the area." Brooke responded ecstatically.

"That's straight." Jaime replied easily.

"You guys do remember we have to pick Nathan up tomorrow at seven or so right. In the morning by the way." Lucas reminded them.

"Then I guess we'll have to find a way to stay up all night." Brooke replied, giving Jaime a sultry look.

"Luke, you're driving the first part tomorrow." Jaime ordered and Lucas bowed his head down.

"Whatever."

**III**

The night went by smoothly so far. The ride to the Italian place was met with idle chit chat, as Peyton and Luke sat next to each other, holding hands and giving each other meaningful looks. Brooke and Jaime had for the most part kept their hands to themselves as they snuggled next to each other, serving each other glasses of champagne.

Dinner had gone down great. Feliciano's easily served some of the best Italian food bar none in the US and afterwards, the four friends climbed back into the limo, unnoticed by Chicago's paparazzi and headed towards Underground of Chicago.

The four of them were dropped off at the club's entrance, with the limo driver only being a phone call away as the driver parked into the parking lot. They weren't ID'ed, and gained access to VIP after paying $2000 for all of them to get VIP access. They had a guide take them to the VIP area where they were given a room for the four of them, two bottles of Grey Goose sitting on the table for them to drink.

"You're in for a real treat tonight. Lupe Fiasco's holding an Open Mic night for upcoming MC's." their guide, a short pretty blonde had stated.

Brooke and Peyton gave Jaime a look. "C'mon, publicity Jaime!" Peyton said, pouting her lips and giving him the puppy eyes.

Jaime gave her a stony gaze. "That only works on Lucas." He stated calmly, and the four shared a laugh.

"C'mon Jaime, I'll make it worth it." Brooke said suggestively. "By doing this you can start your fan base right here, a city where hip hop and rap blows up at." Brooke added.

"I'm not saying it's a bad idea." Jaime said defensively. "I just wanted the four of us to have fun tonight and let go of all that." Jaime added gently.

"What your man is saying is that he's a coward." A voice interrupted them. The four of them looked over to see a light skinned guy in a gray hoodie and dark blue jeans. "You should ditch them and hang out with somebody who ain' afraid."

Rather than get frustrated, or even attempt to fight the newcomer, Jaime gave him a half lidded gaze. "Who are you anyway?" he said, faking a yawn.

"Drake, Heartbreak Drake." The newcomer introduced himself.

"Never heard of you." Jaime replied, much to Drake's discontent.

"You should. Who are you?" Drake asked.

"Jaime. Jus' Jaime." The Puerto Rican replied.

"Never heard of you." Drake said, mimicking Jaime's earlier remark.

"You wouldn't, sad thing is, I already got a deal bruh, so come back when you got one." Jaime fired back, and the hooded MC gave him a final glare and headed off.

"Nice job Jaime." Lucas commented.

"Lil' arrogant bastid." Jaime spat out.

Grabbing four shot glasses, Brooke poured all of them a shot. "To friendships, new romances, as well as old ones, but most importantly, to life." Brooke toasted, holding the glass up, clinking them against the other three, and the four of them shot them down, swallowing the expensive vodka.

The continued hanging out, listening to the MC's who took the stage, some had been good, and other's utter garbage. At the end of the Open Mic portion, Lupe Fiasco took the stage and the native crowd screamed in response, cheering on the Chicago lyricist. "What's happening Chi-town?" Lupe called out.

The crowd roared in response.

"Apparently there's been a challenge to a battle." Lupe said and the crowd roared in anticipation. Jaime closed his eyes in frustration and wanted to bash his head onto the table. That or go upside Drake's head with a bottle of Grey Goose. "Jaime are you out there? Drake is calling you out!" Lupe shouted out into the microphone.

Brooke and Peyton gasped, though Lucas had honestly expected it. "Fucking A." Jaime said.

"Go." Lucas responded encouragingly.

Jaime stood up out of his seat and saw that Drake was on the stage, mic in hand awaiting him. "Come on down Jaime." Lupe Fiasco called out and Jaime left the group and headed down to the stage.

Once arriving at the stage Lupe walked up to him and shook his hand. "Now I hear you got a record deal from Drake here, but how come we've never heard of you?" Lupe asked, handing the microphone to Jaime.

"Well that's because music isn't my priority. I'm relatively unknown, though in Jacksonville, Florida they all know me out there, I was a big battle rapper. But I moved to Tree Hill, North Carolina and got signed to Red Bedroom Records, courtesy of Peyton Sawyer." Jaime explained.

"Tree Hill, NC. I've been there before, I performed at the club Tric." Lupe commented.

"Yeah, that's Peyton's club." Jaime replied.

"Oh, okay. So rules are simple. Drake's going to drop the first sixteen since he's the challenger. Afterwards you'll drop yours, and then the crowd will choose the winner. Are the rules acceptable?" Lupe asked both contestants.

Both Jaime and Drake nodded.

Drake grabbed the mic and began his performance.

"Heartbreak Drake, known worldwide n**** I'm famous,

I be buying Red Monkey Jeans while you still shopping Pay Less,

Don't be too conceited just cuz you fuckin Ms Davis,

Cuz I could head to the VIP and fuck her on the same shit,

I'm on my fireman game, I guess I got put on Wayne's shit,

But then again if you fuckin' her, I guess she just a lame bitch,

Jaime you still T-Paining, tryna turn a hoe into a housewife,

Don't you know Brooke Davis is Drake's bitch,

You so funny, you related to the Wayans, probably Kennan,

Cuz you be tasting my kids when you kiss her lips full of my semen,

Does it taste like awesome, or even greatness, homey you ain't dreaming,

You just a standalone rapper, and Ms Davis with me is leaving,

Back to your room, where she'll be screaming,

Drake's the mo'fuckin best I've ever had, yup that's Drizzy,

I'll turn the webcam on, so I can online stream it,

I'm so anal bout it, you can Google Brooke Davis creamin'

Drake handed the microphone back to Lupe Fiasco, glaring daggers at Jaime who still had a bored and disinterested look on his face. "That was hot! Can't deny that one, Jaime can you top it off?" Lupe asked, handing the mic over to Jaime, who finally looked lively and looked up at the VIP section where his friends were watching him.

"No doubt." Jaime replied casually.

He took a deep breath, and looked at the masses who watched him eagerly, waiting for him to perform. These people could very well buy his album when he dropped it. He felt a rush, something akin to adrenaline wake up inside of him and he knew it was his time to perform.

Drake you must be faded, you young so you prolly high off whip its,

I'm on some grown man game, these shoes you'll never fit in,

You say you could make her scream, I could make her squirt and not have my dick in,

I'm freestylin', I thought I was on a toilet cuz here I'm clearly shittin'

Even if one day you were to sign with Wayne, you'll still be a loser,

But in the meantime stop cutting class, you dumb as fuck Ferris Bueller,

Ain' it past your bedtime, lil n****, ain' you still a high schooler,

You too young to be saggin' yo jeans, mines sag cuz my balls be fuller,

You've been gay since birth, your mom thought she birthed a daughter,

I'm the butcher to your sacrificial lamb, meaning this battles just a slaughter,

But you and Jesus have something in common, both yo' asses are martyrs,

Tell yo mom next time to swallow, cuz even yo pops regrets you bein' fathered,

You are not my equal, so please next time don't bother,

Because you went hard in you first sixteen, but I'm older and so I went harder,

You youngings can't drink, cuz right now you look like a tipsy fuck,

Next battle we'll have, bring some juice, I'll bring you the sippy cup,

Jaime tossed the mic back to Lupe Fiasco, "Do we even have to ask Chi-town?" Lupe Fiasco shouted out.

"Jaime! Jaime! Jaime!" The crowd roared in response.

"Drake you shouldn't have challenged the man, because Jaime is clearly the winner." Lupe stated, agreeing with the crowd, much to Drake's dismayed look. He gave Jaime one last glare, before climbing off the stage and heading out.

Jaime shrugged. It was hard to feel bad for him when it had been him that challenged him in the first place. Looking up at the VIP, he could see his friends smiling down on him. As he was about to get off the stage, Lupe put his hand on Jaime's shoulder.

"Great job tonight. It's a shame Peyton's already signed you, you are one undiscovered talent. Good luck out there, I'll be sure to cop the album. And congrats on the whole Brooke Davis thing, she is a spitfire." Lupe said, before letting Jaime go.

Jaime nodded, and headed to the bar where he ordered a bottle of Patron Silver to be sent up to the VIP room.

…

Lucas was still in awe, having watched his best friend literally dismantle the young challenger. Jaime had been cruel and methodical in his dismantling of the opponent. "He's damn good." Peyton whispered in his ear. "Thanks for bringing him with you." She added, before grabbing another shot of Grey Goose that Brooke poured out in celebration of Jaime's victory.

"Yes he is." Luke found himself agreeing with her. She was tipsy, the slight blush on her face revealed as much, and suddenly she began swaying to the rhythm of the music. He too himself was pretty buzzed, as his hands moved on their own accord and grabbed Peyton from behind, pulling her flush against his stomach.

Peyton laughed heartily and pleasurably at his antics, and he more than ever was attracted to her. His hands were on his stomach, the length of his arms wrapped around her comfortably, as if God had built her specifically for him. He believed that notion regardless of whether she did or did not. Her head was laid on the crook of his neck and his lips were placed by her earlobe, his soft, warm breath against the side of her face.

"Dance with me." Peyton commanded, and he knew with all clarity that there would never be a woman he'd love as much as he loved Peyton. Her soft, blonde curls, beautiful ringlets bounced softly as she grinded her ass against him, the smell of her perfume and the physical contact between sending blood flush down to his manhood.

"Always." He replied, swaying and grinding with her. The music didn't matter, because the two star cross lovers were in their own pocket of time where nothing existed but the two of them.

Her hands grabbed at his ass, clutching him hard as he grinded his denim clad dick against her. His lips found her earlobe, clasping it between the lips as he suckled it softly and she mewled, gyrating against him more wantonly, her erratic movements an act of showing how badly she wanted, she _needed_ to feel him against her.

He needed her too, more than she'd ever know. Looking down, he saw her barely concealed breasts underneath the green blouse, rising as her heart rate accelerated. The two twin mounds of perfectly formed flesh beckoned him, and it took all self control in his alcohol ridden body not to touch them.

"I want you Lucas." Peyton stated.

"I love you Peyt." He admitted once again, finding it easier to do so than the last time. "True Love Always." He told her, his lips grazing the side of her cheek.

"I love you too Lucas Scott." Peyton confessed softly, and her desire was suppressed my grander feelings and the two continued dancing in perfect harmony and rhythm, as if God truly had made them for each other.

"Feeling left out?" A voice called out, interrupting Brooke's thoughts. Jaime's smoky eyes burned into hers as he extended his hand out, clasping her soft, delicate one and pulled her to her feet.

"Kind of. That was so awesome down there." Brooke admitted to Jaime, wrapping her arms around him.

"He went too far by mentioning you." Jaime confessed, and then added, "and that made me so fuckin' mad."

"I'm glad it worked then." Brooke responded and the two poured themselves two shots of Patron.

"All night long." Jaime said, winking.

"All night long." Brooke repeated, smiling against her heart's wishes. The two downed the shots of the clear tequila. Brooke placed her hands around his neck, "Feeling frisky?" she asked, her other hand on the small of his back.

"With you… always." He admitted softly and was captivated by her hazel eyes. Hazel and green meshed, the thrumming bass of the music in the background, their vision tainted by alcohol and flashing lights and their lips connected and pressed against each other. His arms wrapped around her, pressing her flush against his tall, lanky frame.

Her lips were soft, moist, and pliant, yet sultry and demanding.

His lips were surprisingly soft, yet demanding as he pushed her lips apart to gain access to her mouth, his tongue invasive. Their hands moved on their own accord, roaming each other's bodies as they took from each other what they needed and enjoyed each other's lust, consumed by an insatiable hunger that demanded of them.

Heat flushed through her system, his lips a drug that sent her arching back into a crescendo of pleasure unbound by time and man, his hands stroking her into bliss as they snuck underneath the dress and her juices flooded his fingers. Neither cared that they were in a nightclub, perhaps because they had been drinking, or perhaps because they were hidden from view in the VIP room. She moaned and mewled into his mouth, and he groaned into hers as blood flooded south, filling up his aching organ, renewing his desire.

"Jaaaiiimmmeee…" she purred out, and he loved the way her raspy voice sounded as he stroked her into cloud nine. Her eyes rolled back into her head momentarily, and she felt the roaring fire burn her, scorch her nether regions as she pushed him onto the large seat, forgetting that their best friends were there, a few feet away from them. "I need you inside me, right now." Brooke demanded huskily, her hands roaming down to grab his hard length through his jeans.

"_Diablo…_" Jaime drawled out.

"I got you good. I got you hard for me and speaking Spanish and everything…" Brooke whispered, her fingers fumbling as she tried to unzip his pants.

"I can't believe I'm 'bout to say this _nena_, but not here. Let's wait till we get back to the room, _puñeta._" Jaime bit off dangerously as Brooke nipped at his dick with her lips.

"Fuck waiting…"

"Brooke!" Peyton shrieked as the two blondes had finally stopped dancing. "God, we're gone for like ten minutes and you guys were about to have sex!" Peyton screeched at the two brunettes.

"Jaime, could you like put your dick back in your pants?" Lucas asked comically, and Jaime looked down and saw his manhood was exposed and promptly stuffed it back into his boxers before zipping back up his jeans.

"Sorry?" Brooke said apologetically.

"My bad potna." Jaime offered and stood up. "Drinks on me." He shouted as he poured the group another set of tequila shots.

"After this, we're so going home." Peyton said, "It's already one thirty in the morning." She added.

"Fuck…" Lucas said exasperatedly.

"Let's finish up the bottle and then we'll go, otherwise its alcohol abuse." Jaime replied, before downing his shot and pouring himself another.

"There's half a bottle left!" Peyton responded. "I don't think I can driiinkk anymore."

"You're done." Lucas said swiftly, downing his shot, and then Peyton's.

"Hey I can hang." Peyton fired back at him.

"Apparently not." Lucas shot back.

Peyton arched her eyebrow at him before taking the bottle from Jaime and drinking straight from the bottle and chugged.

"What's wrong with you, don't you know thaa'll fucc you up?" Jaime said slurring.

"Shut up bitch, I can hang." Peyton responded, pouting.

The tequila didn't last long after that and the group stumbled their way out of the club. The limo pulled up a moment later and after a resilient fight between the door handle and Jaime's hand, Jaime won and the door opened, giving passage to the group.

…

The limo dropped them off in front of their rooms and sped away in a hurry as if the driver had somewhere to be at two in the morning. "Peyton, me and Jaime are staying in his room." Brooke declared, and pushed her way into the room where Jaime and Lucas' slept at.

"Works for me." Peyton added, giving Lucas a leering grin. Grabbing Lucas by the button up shirt, she pulled him towards her room and after swiping her card and pushing it open, she yanked Lucas into the room.

Lucas gave a yelp of surprise when Peyton's delicate hands gripped him and pushed him onto the bed. "Clothes off." Peyton demanded with a pout, before she straddled him, her legs on each side of him as she pushed him onto his back, her lips claiming his as hers, marking him, etching an imprint in his mind of the night.

"Peyton…" Lucas mumbled out in between Peyton's drunken kisses.

The urge to give in and just be with her was tremendous, yet he pushed his own desires aside as he tried to get a hold of the situation. "We're too drunk…" He muttered out.

"I'm not, at least not for this." Peyton replied, her lips finding the base of his neck, nipping gently with her teeth. "Please Luke, I need you." She begged.

His fingers automatically found their way into her hair, running through the curly ringlets of blonde hair that he loved so much. Grunting, he flipped their positions so he was on top of her, and she squealed in delight.

He pressed his lips against the nape of her neck, his tongue running across it suggestively as he tasted her, for the first time in years like he'd been unable to do on the night of their infamous lovemaking. His fingers grabbed at his shirt, and suddenly he pulled it free, the black undershirt going with it, revealing his upper body to her. His chest was rock hard and tight, his stomach taut as a defined six pack stood there, framed for her to touch.

"Peyt…" he drawled out, drunk from his and her desire.

Peyton ripped her blouse off, buttons flying in the air laying there in just her bra and jeans. Excited, he lowered his body down, pressing two soft kisses against the tops of her breasts and some more on the way down to the button of her jeans. Dipping his tongue into her belly button, she giggled and clasped his spiky hair with her delicate fingers.

His fingers found the button to her jeans and he unbuttoned it, then pulled the zipper down, revealing the black lace panties underneath. Grabbing the side of her jeans with both hands, he slowly peeled her jeans off past her legs, until they were completely off.

Kissing her smooth feet after tossing the jeans haphazardly to the side, his lips ran all the way up her legs, his tongue trailing across her thigh.

It had been so long.

Two years and three months since he's had her.

He's counted.

This night would be special, the culmination of the long, arduous, torturous wait that he had gone through when he denied himself of her, of her feel and touch.

But both of them were fucked up.

If he took her now, it might turn out to mean nothing to her the next morning. He couldn't…

"I'm sorry Peyton…but I can't." he spoke after a few seconds he took to himself to catch a breather. It didn't help that his dick was rock hard and singing in ecstasy, demanding that he pull her panties to the side and just ram…

"What do you mean you can't?" Peyton demanded sharply, her bloodshot green eyes boring into his.

"Not like this, not when we're both drunk and it's still too new." Lucas explained.

Peyton gave him a wary look, and then her eyes began to water up. "Do… do you not want me? Did I… did I do something wrong?" Peyton asked with uncertainty.

Lucas felt a blow to his stomach after she asked him that question. How could she doubt that he would want her?

"Is it because of Sawyer, I lost all the baby fat…" she trailed off.

Lucas cradled her face with his hands. "The fact that you're the mother of my child makes me realize that we can't do _this_ like _this_." Lucas replied. "But it also makes you the sexiest woman I've ever known."

"Then why don't you?" Peyton began to ask but Lucas interrupted her.

"If we do this, we do it right. Not while we're drunk and whatever. Our first time has to be so special and so magical that you'll have to realize that I love you. I don't want you regretting this tomorrow. That'll hurt me…" Lucas admitted softly.

"I'm not going to regret this…" Peyton snapped and pushed herself up to a sitting position. Suddenly she groaned and Lucas gave her a confused look, but it was too late, she threw up all over his jeans, covering him in a slush of alcohol and spaghetti.

"Ugh..." Lucas gagged, the stench of puke assaulting his nose.

"I'm sorry…" Peyton squealed out and suddenly she keeled over and puked some more, this time on the carpet of the hotel floor.

"It's okay babe." Lucas mumbled, rubbing her back and holding her hair back with his other hand.

"You've been so good to me since you've been back, and I know I've been a bitch..."

"I deserved it….are you done?" Lucas asked patiently.

"Yeah, I don't think I'm ever drinking again." Peyton muttered out.

"Don't worry about it." Lucas spoke gently. "Just lay down now babe, I'll get you a glass of water." Lucas said encouragingly as he laid Peyton in.

Walking over to the bathroom sink, he snatched up one the coffee cups that came complimentary with the room and filled it with a bit of cold water. Walking back over to Peyton, he brought the cup to her lips and she swallowed a little bit. "No more." She stuttered, spitting out a little bit of water.

"Just lay down and go to sleep…" Lucas cooed gently and brought the sheets over Peyton's body. He didn't really want to go through the trouble of clothing her. Then he covered her with a blanket, to warm her up quicker.

"Thank you Lucas." Peyton called out softly and Lucas smiled at her.

"Don't worry about it." Lucas replied.

"I love you." She whispered gently and Lucas' heart rejoiced in his chest.

"I know. Well I'm going to take a shower real quick, I'll see you in the morning Sawyer." Lucas announced and headed over to the bathroom.

Once he was naked and hot water sprayed over him and rolled off of him in small beads, he grabbed his dick after realizing he was left to take care of himself now.

…

They were wild and passionate, their lips finding each other as they stumbled out of their clothes, not wanting to let go of each other. Jaime drank Brooke in, a beautiful sight to behold as he pulled her bra off and ripped her panties off with as his calloused hands and a grunt. "Jaime…" Brooke begged.

"I know…" Jaime replied, ripping off his white beater down the middle as he tossed it aside. His baggy jeans came off in one fluid motion with his boxers and the two somehow made it onto the bed.

Jaime gave Brooke control, submitting to her will as he let her on top, his thick rod fully hard and at her complete mercy. There was no foreplay, no loving or tender notions as Brooke grabbed his dick in one hand and slid down on it, giving a small cry of pain as he slid in halfway. Catching her breath, she slid up a bit as her pussy juices soaked his shaft, lubricating it before sliding down some more.

"I don't think it's gonna fit." Brooke complained, trying to get as much as she could in.

"It will." Jaime said confidently, his fingers brushing over her clit, arousing her even more.

Jaime was on a whole different level of ecstasy. He'd been with many women in his life, but nothing, absolutely nothing could prepare him for this. Brooke's pussy walls clenched around the tip of his dick, and pleasure ricocheted over him, making him arch his back and sliding deeper into her.

Unprepared for the sudden movement, Brooke clenched up, her walls clenched tighter in a vice grip motion and Jaime grunted, coming with such a powerful force that it surprised him in its early arrival, flooding her with his essence. The pleasure was so powerful, so strong it could only be compared to a religious experience, so supernatural and spiritual in nature, one could only marvel at its existence and enjoy it for what it was worth.

Electricity danced on his skin, burning him from the inside out. "_Diablo_…" Jaime exclaimed.

"Did you come already?" Brooke asked teasingly, an amused smirk on her face.

"Yeah, didn't see that coming." Jaime replied and Brooke laughed again.

"I must be good then… don't worry, you'll have plenty of chances to make it up to me, and I was so close too…" she trailed off.

It was Jaime's turn to laugh. "Who said anything about me being done? Why wait?" Jaime replied.

"Already up?" Brooke asked, surprise evident on her face.

"Brooke Davis, I'm not going down for a while…" Jaime replied, a wolfish grin marring his face. "On your knees." He added.

Brooke whimpered, his voice alone enough for her lips to get slick with lubrication.

Positioning himself behind her, he slid in all the way to the hilt.

He proved his point, soundly at that.

It was only after the act was over that he realized he hadn't used protection.

…

Peyton woke up to the buzzing of Luke's alarm. The sun was barely up, her body registering that the time was sometime around six and that it was time to turn the alarm off and go back to sleep. Sitting up in bed, she realized she was just in bra and panties, and her breath tasted foul as hell. Looking over at the side of the bed she could see dried puke cemented to the carpet. "I threw up last night." She realized, talking to herself.

Did she and Lucas?

Looking next to her she found no one in the bed with her, but she could see Lucas' sleeping form on the chair, curled up against himself to keep warm. Now Peyton truly lamented her and Brooke only getting a one bed room. Lucas had taken care of her, put her to sleep and watched over after her, only to sleep in the really uncomfortable chair that came with the hotel.

Poor Lucas.

She tried to recall the details of the previous night and found it hard to summon them. She remembered going to the Italian restaurant and the club, but then it got hazy as her memories blurred together up until the point she fell asleep.

She remembered kissing Lucas and trying to sleep with him and that was murky at best. Rolling off the bed and turning off the alarm, she suddenly remembered that they were supposed to pick up Nathan at the hospital in twenty minutes.

Rushing over to Lucas' motionless body, she grabbed him, shaking him out of his sleep. "Get up we have to pick up your brother." She snapped grumpily.

"Yeah, yeah." Lucas mumbled, getting up unhappily.

Fortunately Lucas had not allowed Peyton to throw up all over herself so all she had to do before leaving was brush her teeth and rid herself of the foul stench. Sprinting towards the bathroom, she grabbed her toothbrush and paste and got to work.

…

Lucas yawned, his eyes shutting angrily in an attempt to block out the light. Grabbing the spare keycard he had to the room, he swiped it on the door and it unlocked after flashing a small green light. Pushing the door open, he saw Jaime and Brooke laid out on the bed, butt naked and uncovered by the sheets.

Groaning, he strode over to the bathroom and ignored the visage that haunted his vision a few seconds ago. Though he couldn't help but allow a smile to light up his face, Brooke and Jaime were snuggled up against each other, with Jaime's arm around Brooke's waist.

Brushing his teeth a few moments later, he stepped back out after washing his face and running water through his hair to re spike it up. Grabbing a shirt to cover himself with and throwing his old Keith's Body Shop sweatshirt over it, he realized he hadn't worn that shirt since Keith's death. But then again, it was time to embrace the past rather than run from it.

He hadn't been able to get rid of it, and while he'd never worn it, he took it with him for good luck. Stepping back out into the main room, he saw Jaime had awoken and was sitting up in bed. "Hey, fun night I'm assuming?" Lucas said sardonically.

Jaime shrugged but grinned. "You gon' out to pick up your brother?"

Lucas nodded.

"Figured as much. Wake me up when it's time to check out of the hotel, that'll give you enough time to catch up, and get all his stuff packed." Jaime commented. "I'll meet him afterwards." He added.

"A'ight." Lucas said agreeing, before heading back out with a small smile on his face. Jaime always knew what to do. Stepping outside he saw Peyton waiting for him by her white Navigator. Walking up to her, she surprised him by grabbing and kissing him full on the lips. Nothing too passionate, but it meant the world to him.

"That's for last night." She spoke, smiling in a way that made Luke think that everything would be alright.

"You don't have to kiss me out of gratitude Peyton…" Lucas stated nervously.

"You're right, but I want to. Also I'm kissing you because you're worth giving another chance." Peyton explained.

"What does that mean?" Lucas asked frankly.

"It means you're my boyfriend and baby daddy, idiot." Peyton exclaimed happily before laying another kiss on his lips.

"I could kiss you forever." Lucas replied happily after they pulled apart.

"Maybe, but I figure we only got about sixty years left." Peyton responded. "Get in the car." She added, and the two headed off.

…

Nathan Scott stood outside in the cold. He figured he'd wait another couple minutes before he'd call a cab to get him home. Perhaps his estranged brother had up and abandoned him again? Wouldn't be the first time after all. He thanked the Lord he had on some warm clothes, a hoody with a black pea coat over it looking similar to the pea coat the boot campers wore over at Great Lakes RTC.

Rubbing his gloved hands together, he saw two figures approaching.

It was two blondes, one with an arm draped around the other's shoulder, and the other with their arm around the waist. He recognized them immediately, it was Lucas and Peyton. "Luke!" Nathan called out, smiling warmly at them. Apparently the two had gotten over their differences and were together now.

Sometimes he wished he and Haley did the same thing.

He knew he still loved her, it was hard to admit it, but there was no point in denying the naked truth when it was flashing you.

Lucas released Peyton momentarily and ran over to where his brother was at, and gave him a bone crushing hug. The two brothers shared a moment, knowing life truly wouldn't be the same in Tree Hill as it was. The whole squad was back, plus one Jaime Gines.

"Man I missed you jack ass." Nathan stated, his eyes twinkling in mirth.

"Screw you too little brother."

"Asshole."

"Assface."

"Hey Sawyer." Nathan greeted Peyton awkwardly, and the curly blonde enveloped him in a hug.

"Don't scare us like that again Scott." She warned, and the three old friends headed towards the new life they were about to set for themselves.

…

Jaime had woken up right before they arrived. He'd gotten showered, brushed his teeth and dressed while Brooke was still asleep. Though Jaime himself had woken up late and had to extend their hotel stay for another day. Checkout time was apparently at 10:00 AM and he had woken up at 1:00PM. He was sitting outside in a pair of grey Fubu sweatpants and a simple long sleeved black t-shirt with a pair of black AF-1 low tops, smoking away at a Newport. "Brooke wake up." He yelled out to the naked brunette in his bed.

"Shut up." Brooke rasped out, rolling over in bed. "Why aren't you in bed with me asshole?" she demanded angrily.

"I'm waiting for Lucas and Peyt to get back from picking Nathan up." Jaime replied.

"C'mon, come here." Brooke beckoned.

Jaime flicked his cigarette into the air and headed back inside, shutting the door behind him. Crawling back into bed fully clothed, Brooke grabbed him and yanked him on top of her naked body.

She kissed his lips demandingly, then pulled away. "Ugh, your breath stinks." She commented, smelling the smoke in his mouth.

"So does yours morning breath." Jaime fired back and Brooke gave him and indignant look.

She was about to run out of the bed, but Jaime pinned her down by her hands. "And I could care less." He added, before dipping his head to kiss her neck. His sweatpants came off in a rush, and before she knew it she was filled to the brim with his manhood.

"Goddamn!" Brook moaned out.

"I wouldn't call myself a god yet, but feel free." Jaime replied, pulling back and thrusting into her hot, tight core once again.

"Jesus."

They coupled for the next hour, this time taking their time as they kissed each other tenderly and discovered each other's body. In the aftermath, Brooke laid atop of Jaime, her legs straddling his waist, and she remembered bits of the night before.

"Jaime!" She cried out.

"Yea' babe?" Jaime mumbled out through his lips, his eyes half lidded.

"Did you use a condom last night?" She accused.

"I don't know, I think so." He replied honestly, the night before a foggy mess to him to.

"I don't think you did." She replied.

"It's alright… you're on birth control right?" Jaime asked.

Brooke shook her head. "No, I haven't had sex in a year, I figured I didn't need it so I stopped taking it." She replied.

Green eyes met hazel, and neither of them could find words to say for a long time.

End of Arc One: The Return of Lucas Scott

A/N: Hey, like I said earlier, I'm truly sorry for the delay, but I've been on the boat once again. For those who don't know where I'm taking this, I accelerated the plot to fit what I wanted out of it, and yes I did rush the Leyton at the end of the arc for a reason. I think it was the perfect timing for the romance between the two to start, but as you know with Leyton it's never easy, expect big trouble and big fights along the way as well as Daddy Luke! Lmao. The last three arcs of this book are based of Jaime's album, Sex, Death, and Heartbreak. Arc 2: Sex will be about the new relationships being formed in Tree Hill, Arc 3: Death(foreshadowing), Arc 4: Heartbreak. Nuff said. I don't I almost didn't write this chapter, well at least this version. Like I said, this is my third or fourth draft of Chapter Five and each version was different. The version before this had begged for a two chapter mini arc on the missing two years in Luke's disappearance. But with the way the previous chapter had ended and with this chapter being the arc's closure, it wouldn't of fit in the continuum, thought that's not to say you won't ever see that mini arc one day. How do you guys like the seventh season so far? I at first was going to boycott it, but Tree Hill called to me. Though I honestly wondered if I've made a mistake in pairing Brooke and Jaime right now. That's not saying that they'll be permanent, but after finally finishing Season 6 and now two episodes into Season 7, Brulian has called my attention. Who do you prefer Brooke with Jaime or Julian? It's not too late folks, you decide their future. Another thing you hold in your hands is the chapter's awesome cliffhanger. Will she get knocked up or not? It's all up to you.

PS: I have nothing but love and respect for Aubrey Graham (Drake), this was definitely not a diss since he is one of my TOP 5 Artists right now and I was just paying homage. Nowaday Drake is nasty, younger Drake, not so much. Just merely paying homage. Much love to Lupe Fiasco, and stop bullshitting on your album WE ARE LAZRS Lupe.


	7. Arc 2:Sex: Let Me Go

The Simplicity of Eternity

_Arc 2: Sex_

_Chapter Six_

A/N: I honestly due apologize for the tardiness. Ever since I left the Dwight Eisenhower, I really got slapped by a huge pan of writer's block that I haven't really been able to recover from. The worst part is I have the outline of how the story is going to move, but without too many details. I guess that's what happens when you write a story without properly outlining it and writing on a mere whim. Hopefully this chapter draws you back in the story, for those who I have lost, and I'll try to whip up another ten thousand worded chapter. I don't own One Tree Hill by the way, else Lucas and Peyt would be in Season 7.

**I**

The sixteen-hour drive back to Tree Hill was as expected, boring. As they drove the busy highways of Illinois down to the wooded dirt roads of West Virginia, no one really knew what to say. Nathan merely held his son Jamie, and Lucas didn't say much to Peyton, he just held her hand and gave her a few chaste kisses in between rest stops. In Jaime's black Mustang, Jaime and Brooke outright refused to talk to each other after realizing the possible consequences of their passionate night with one another.

Rather than call each other out on it, they settled for listening to music off of Jaime's Ipod. That's not saying they were angry at each other, but rather awkward and uncomfortable at the prospect of either of them raising a child when the boundaries of their relationship was yet to be defined.

Brooke didn't know if Jaime wanted more with her than the occasional screw, and the idea of him tossing her aside like her last couple of exes (Lucas included) chilled her to the bone.

Jaime was more worried about how great of a father he'd even be, supposing he did knock her up. He didn't have a great relationship with his father, then again, who would after their old man slept with his fiancée, but then again Jaime also realized he never did prior to his father's betrayal. Because of that, his relationship with his mother and siblings was strained at best.

His mother, a religious fanatic, in his eyes anyway, was to busy being the trophy wife. His older brother Miguel Gines was a conniving dope dealer, his younger sister Keyla was a confused teen, lost in between her teenage curiosity and the religion forced upon her by their mother.

Out of all of them, Jaime got along best with his youngest brother Luis Gines. The now fifteen year old was more like Jaime, and they loved the same things in life. The only difference was that Luis still had the veil of innocence in him, something that Jaime lost long ago.

As they pulled into Tree Hill Inn, Lucas climbed out of Peyton's Lincoln Navigator with Nathan and Jamie, and Brooke climbed out of Jaime's Mustang. "Do you guys want to meet up later at TRIC for some drinks?" Brooke asked, wrapping her arms around the tall Puerto Rican, and snuggling into his warm body, trying to fight off the biting cold weather.

"Yeah, I could talk to Haley or Dan to take care of Jamie while we get situated anyway. Especially now that Lucas is moving here for good now." Nathan replied.

Lucas nodded in agreement. "That'd probably be best. Are you coming tonight Peyton?" Lucas asked his blonde girlfriend.

"I'll be at TRIC, but Luke you know I have to get back to work with Haley, and honestly Jaime should probably get started too if we want to release the LP soon. But I don't see why we couldn't get a drink or two before starting." Peyton stated amicably.

"Meh…work sounds troublesome." Jaime shot back scathingly, though the smile he had let Peyton know he was kidding.

"Shut it." Brooke commanded, causing Jaime to raise his eyebrow at her.

"You lose your mind shawty?" Jaime asked, kissing the sexy brunette on the forehead.

"After last night… kinda." Brooke teased.

"Okay, one… ugh. Two… ugh again. Could you guys please keep your hands to yourself?" Peyton whined.

Jaime shook his head, his green eyes lighting up in mirth.

Nathan walked up to Peyton and gave her a hug. "Well I guess I'll see you later." Nathan said, before releasing his brother's girl.

"Later babe." Jaime said, giving her a goodbye kiss and letting her go so Nathan could give her a hug.

"Later Brooke." Nathan said with baby Jamie in his other hand giving her a one handed hug as to not wake the sleeping child up.

"Take it easy Nathan." Brooke replied, giving him a genuine smile, and making Nathan wonder why the hell did he and his brother ever leave Tree Hill.

"Call me." Brooke ordered Jaime and climbed into the Navigator with Peyton.

Lucas couldn't pretend not to be a little disappointed when he didn't get a goodbye kiss. He was about to turn around until someone grabbed his arm and spun him around. All he could see was bright green eyes and blonde hair until he felt a pair of soft, pliant lips pressed up insistently against his. Peyton smirked against his mouth, and took Lucas lower lip in between hers and began sucking on it.

"Didn't think I'd let you go without a kiss, did ya?" Peyton asked. She smiled a little when she saw how breathless he was, his hair spiked out, blue eyes widened in surprise. His lips were swollen from her need, and he looked at her uncertainly.

"I love you Peyt." He whispered, soft and low.

"I know, call me later when you're done, I'll introduce you to Sawyer, 'kay?" Peyton promised, and gave him another chaste kiss, before heading over to her car.

As Lucas turned around, a shit-eating grin on his face, Nathan called out, "Someone's in love with Sawyer all over again."

Lucas promptly flipped him off.

"I know." Jaime agreed. "It's like he's pussy whipped, except without the whole pussy bit." Jaime said, sidestepping Lucas' punch that was aimed at his shoulder.

"Fuck you guys." Lucas growled out.

"So, what do you wanna do now?" Nathan asked plainly. "I'm kinda starving."

"Let's go eat then at the café." Lucas prompted.

"Sounds good, I could use a bit of coffee before I get blunted." Jaime stated, shrugging his shoulders.

"You're a pothead?" Nathan asked.

"Perpetual one." Jaime replied, with a bittersweet laugh.

"Man, I thought I was bad." Nathan commented, clutching his son close to his chest.

"Alright, hop in, though we don't have any baby seats in the back." Lucas pointed out. "But now that I think about it, Haley's next door to our room, you can leave J. Luke with her while we eat and go buying houses and stuff to settle in." Lucas added.

Nathan nodded grimly. "I guess we could do that." He agreed.

Lucas took them over to where their room was and knocked on Haley's door. After a few knocks a sleepy Haley came out and answered the door. "What is it Luke?" she asked.

"Hey can you watch your son for a bit?" Nathan asked, putting emphasis on the son portion.

"Nathan, you're in Tree Hill… that's nice." She added melodramatically.

"Yeah, get used to it. So can you watch him for a bit?" Nathan asked softly, avoiding her gaze.

"Yeah, no problem, I want to spend more time with Jamie anyway." Haley stated, holding her arms out for Nathan.

"Take care of him." He ordered pointedly, before giving her the sleeping child.

"Always do. Take care Nathan." She replied, before closing the door softly.

"Alright, let's go see the old man." Nathan said sarcastically, ignoring Lucas' groan.

Jaime of course snickered at that.

**II**

"So you and Luke, huh?" Brooke asked her best friend, Peyton Sawyer, giving her a sideways grin, as they stepped inside the door of Clothes over Bros.

"Shut up B. Davis." Peyton commanded, her pale skin reddening as she blushed. Gripping the steering wheel tightly, she looked over at Brooke and nodded. "Yeah, I'm going to give him a chance. We're together, but without the drama and intensity of high school, I think we can work." She admitted nervously.

"He's trying real hard, so I'm glad you gave him a chance P. Sawyer." Brooke confessed. "Just watch yourself, it's just not you on the line, you have to think about Sawyer too."

"I did, I am. I haven't forgotten what Luke did two years ago, but I can't keep holding that against him. I think he's matured a bit over the last two years." Peyton said defensively.

"True, but he's also changed. He's not the guy you were in love with in high school, P. Sawyer. Just make sure you fall in love with the present Luke, not some memory of him. You'll realize that later, and then it'll hurt him. If you want you two to work, you have to both realize you aren't the high school hormonal teens you were." Brooke advised softly.

"I know… I know. But I really like him, and I love him, or the memory of him. That should be enough for now right?" Peyton asked.

"I guess we'll see." Brooke replied sardonically.

"So you and Jaime, so how are you with our new resident Puerto Rican?" Peyton asked.

"Hmmm… hard to say really. We kind of had unprotected sex last night and it just got weird between us. The whole way back we really didn't talk or anything." Brooke complained hoarsely.

"I figured that was because you were to busy giving him road head." Peyton shot back, laughing uncontrollably.

"Shut up." Brooke whined, "I thought about it, but he was so distant, it was like he was spaced out or something." She added pitifully.

"Yea, well he's a stoner! That's like expected." Peyton interjected.

"But he's not your typical tie-dye shirt stoner. He's on a whole different level that I can't read, and I don't know what to expect from him. Am I even ready to be in a relationship again? Is he? You know he just lost his fiancée a year ago… this is so troublesome." Brooke mumbled.

"Wow, you're talking like him already. Brooke, the guy is crazy about you, and not like in the creepy I'm-going-to-pretend-I'm-your-half-brother kinda way. I don't think he'll be locking you up in your basement anytime soon. He's completely at your mercy." Peyton confessed honestly.

"I think it's the other way around. Every time he touches me it's like an out of body experience, and I don't wanna lose that. But what if he gets bored of me? I haven't ever been able to keep a guy attached, not in high school, not now." Brooke said, taking a slow breath as she contemplated the idea of Jaime skipping town on her.

"To your defense, Lucas and all those other high schoolers were idiots. But I don't honestly think that Jaime's that stupid, and yeah he lost his fiancée, but I think he's over her considering what happened. If what Lucas told me was true, then I don't think he'd still be with her even if she was alive. But if your that worried about it, talk to him and he'll tell you how he feels. I'm not saying he's the best guy for you, because frankly I don't know him, and he's an enigma for all intents and purposes, but only time can tell." Peyton explained, placing a comforting hand on Brooke's shoulder.

"So why should I risk it? I mean, what if it doesn't work out?" Brooke replied nervously, biting her lower lip.

"Because if he makes you crazy about him, and makes you feel that special, it's always worth it." Brooke couldn't deny the logic in that. "I tried fighting off Luke, I really did and I ended up caving because he's changed, but he still makes me feel special. He makes me feel like a hormonal teenager, like nothing's changed and he never left. He still leaves me breathless, he still pisses me off, but I love all that just the same. I hope to God that we work it out and can be a happy family, but if not, at least this… this is worth it Brooke." Peyton exclaimed, blushing.

"I can't just jump into things like that P. Sawyer, I'm Brooke Davis, multi-millionaire of Clothes over Bros, and one false move and it's all over. The press could spin this and ruin me…"

"Brooke, you might want to see this." Her pretty assistant Millicent, who came running up to the front desk frantically and wide-eyed, interrupted Brooke. In her hands she clutched a newspaper, and Brooke groaned.

"It's not another rumor about me being a total lesbo and sleeping with Cameron Diaz is it?" Brooke exclaimed in an annoyed tone.

"No it's worse." Millicent replied, handing her boss the newspaper.

"Fuck me in the…" Brooke cursed, and Peyton glanced down at the newspaper and blushed.

On the cover it had a picture of Brooke and Jaime on the front page. Jaime was positioned behind Brooke, with his hands around her waist and his lips on her neck. Brooke was completely flush against him, and the wolfish grin on Jaime's face told the story itself.

**The Real Brooke Davis**

For the last two years, Brooke Davis has fooled us all. While to the media and the general population she portrays herself as a hard-working fashion designer and CEO of Clothes over Bros, here she is at her finest, doing the very exact things she herself spoke against in various shots at different celebrities. While we all assumed that Brooke was all work and no play, one of our photographers happened to catch her inside the Club Underground of Chicago with the gentlemen shown here doing the dirty out here in the open, finally showing the public who she truly is. The man here is none other than Jaime Gines, the ex-pilot turned poster boy and racer of Rousch Racing Industries in Jacksonville, Florida. Jaime Gines has recently quit his position at Rousch Racing and disappeared along with acquaintance and close friend, Lucas Scott, best selling author of The Unkindness of the Ravens and The Comet. Jaime Gines had left Rousch after recently returning from Japan from the set of the expected movie the Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift and is still scheduled for one more race in the California Canyons as per contract obligations. Perhaps Brooke Davis is the reason for Gines' disappearance. One can only question the integrity and morale fiber of Brooke Davis after this sad display of promiscuity. Furthermore, one can only wonder if that's all that it takes to get famous, as Brooke Davis went from unknown girl next door to multi-millionaire in the span of two years.

Brooke Davis pt 2, PG 27

"Oh my God!" Brooke shouted, suddenly dropping the New York Times newspaper down to the floor. "I knew it was only time… I knew this would happen!" she ranted furiously.

"Calm down Brooke, it'll be okay." Peyton replied soothingly.

"This is why I don't get serious with anyone, and that bastard, he didn't even tell me he was famous! I'm going to kill him!" Brooke growled out raspily.

"The second part of the article is more lesbo slash bi-sexual rumors too!" Millie informed her.

"I don't care about that! This is proof, it's a photo of us, dammit." Brooke cursed, throwing up a silent prayer to whatever deity existed that it would blow over soon.

"Brooke you're famous, and apparently so is he, this was bound to happen. It might even turn out to be good press for you guys." Peyton said in a placating manner.

"There's no such thing!" Brooke snapped. "Those paparazzi scrutinize your life and think of ways to make headlines by twisting things. I'll have those corporate types at CB's on my ass over this, and Victoria too." Brooke whined.

"She's already called six times." Millie put in.

"I don't know what to do, how do I get out of this one…"

"She left a voicemail saying she was flying in." Millie threw in for good measure.

"I'm screwed." Brooke stated pitifully, and Peyton had no choice but to feel bad for her.

**III**

Haley wasn't sure how to react to Nathan being here again in One Tree Hill. It was hard seeing him once again, despite her angry outburst in Chicago. Maybe it was because Nathan had married his sister after their divorce to throw it in her face, or maybe it was because in some ways, despite what happened between them, she still loved him. She laughed morbidly, and watched as Jamie walked towards her, holding his chubby arms outstretched waiting her for her to pick her up. "Mama." Tears blurred her vision.

Haley had never heard him call her mama before, either because he had been too young to or because she had been on tour. Picking up her child, she looked at him, still chubby with baby fat, and wondered if she'd ever slept with Lucas to get a child that looked just like him.

He had Nathan and Lucas' eyes, but with Luke's blonde hair, nose and smile.

Jamie was the beautiful thing she had created with Nathan. She had deserted him to make more money on the road, despite Nathan forgiving her for her drunken one night stand with Chris Keller. All in all, the divorce had been her fault, and even she had to admit that. Nathan might have become an asshole afterwards, but it was because of her betrayal that he had done so.

He had pleaded to her, cried, sobbed and begged and she had left. All he had wanted was for her to cut down on the tour until he was able to get a break from basketball during the off-season and she had refused.

He had called her a heartless bitch, and he was right.

The materialistic things had gotten to her, the steady flow of thousands of dollars into her bank account, the cheers from the fans.

She had been so stupid and arrogant, she realized, holding Jamie to her as close as she cold, and Jamie obliged landing sloppy kisses on her cheeks that sent tears stumbling down her face as she cried bitterly.

"I've messed up so bad." Haley sobbed quietly, confessing to her child. Jamie didn't understand so instead he giggled and kissed her some more.

Haley giggled with him, even as tears slid down her pale cheeks.

**IV**

Dan Scott felt old, and he wasn't even 40 yet. He was the grandfather of two beautiful grandchildren, and he honestly felt blessed to be alive. Somehow he had luckily made it out of the school building on the day his brother Keith and former love Karen Roe had been killed by an angry Jimmy Edwards. He was a man with a lot to make up for in life, and since that day he'd been trying to redeem himself, starting with his sons.

But that had been hard, Lucas had ran away with the intention of never returning to the place that had claimed his mother and father figure. Lucas had gotten a heart complication on the day of the shooting and survived a coma and a heart transplant. They had buried Karen and Keith right after he had woken up from his coma, and immediately after that Lucas had been lost to the world.

No one could shake him out of the grief that he was in. Not that he could truly blame him, he too had lost on that day and he had cried for hours, begged the Lord for Keith and Karen's return and the Lord had not complied. Karen had been pregnant when she had been murdered, her body riddled with three bullets after Keith's murder, and Dan hadn't been able to stop it.

He had held her broken body, a useless marionette without strings in his hands, his hands stained, his clothes drenched in her blood. Somehow he had crawled over towards Keith's body, and laid atop of him, sobbing uselessly as Keith's dead eyes glazed over, his body expired. His blue eyes had looked up to Jimmy, his family's murderer, and he hadn't flinched as Jimmy had pointed the gun at him.

Jimmy's eyes were wide with terror, as he himself couldn't believe what he had done. As if he hadn't shot Keith in the heart, then sprayed Karen with three bullets as she had charged at him like an angry lioness, ready to defend her loved one. "It wasn't supposed to go down this way…"

Jimmy had said that, tears in his eyes as he put the barrel of his gun in his mouth and sucked down on his own bullet.

Jimmy's brains had sprayed the lockers behind him, covering Dan in a gory mess, and he disregarded the teen's death, too consumed in grief and in fear. He had lived, and they had not, and he would gladly give up his life to bring either one of them back.

Lucas had disappeared, unknowingly leaving Peyton pregnant with his child as he fled to Florida to drown himself in alcohol, women, and whatever else could take his pain away. Nathan had gone to Duke like he had planned and played for one year before placing himself in the 2005 NBA Draft, and landing a position as a shooting guard for the Chicago Bulls.

Nathan too had left his old man behind, too busy playing husband and father with his family, and after the divorce, too busy being a womanizer and getting remarried to talk to his father.

So Dan was completely in the surprise of his life as he saw a jet black Mustang, the newer model pull up to his little café. He had recognized it as Jaime's car, Lucas' best friend, but as Lucas, Jaime, and his estranged son Nathan stepped in through the doors, tears had welled up in his eyes.

His sons had returned, both of them here, in Tree Hill at the same time, and he honestly couldn't be happier. Dropping down the coffee cup he had in his hands, he ran as fast as his old legs could take him and grabbed both sons in a crushing hug, surprising them with the strength of it. "Nathan…Luke!" he said happily, he honestly had expected Lucas to disappear again, and he hadn't been able to really talk to him.

"Dad, cut it out." Nathan whined playfully, shrugging out of his father's embrace.

"What are you two doing here, at the same time?" Dan asked, a sappy smile on his face, his eyes lighting up in true, genuine happiness.

"We're moving here, permanently." Lucas replied whimsically, still in his father's embrace. Pulling out of his father's arms, Lucas motioned to one of the tables. "Come sit and have a cup with us Pops." Lucas added.

Dan raised his eyebrow at Lucas. Lucas hadn't ever been this civil with him, and he didn't remember the last time Lucas had called him dad, let alone Pops. Nodding his head fervently, he took them to a table in the back of the café. "Hang on, what do you guys want to eat?" he asked, "Hey Jaime, how are you?" he added, extending his hand to the tall Puerto Rican.

"Same ol', how bout yourself Dan?" Jaime replied courteously, shaking the older man's hand.

"Right now, the happiest man alive." Dan admitted, and as the four sat down, he added, "C'mon, what do you want, it's on the house."

They all settled on some coffee and some breakfast sandwiches, and Dan had walked up to the counter and let one of the waitresses in the back know the order. Walking back to the table, he sat down and gave his sons a megawatt smile. "So, you guys really decided to move back to Tree Hill. I heard you had been dropped Nathan, but I didn't expect you to come back." Dan stated morosely. "I'm sorry to hear about you getting dropped Nate." He stated honestly, no judgment in his tone.

"Yea, cocaine's a hell of a drug." Nathan said nonchalantly, shrugging his shoulders.

"Well, I'm sure you'll bounce back on your feet. I've got the two best sons a father can have, you'll both make me even prouder than you've done already." Dan assured them.

"I haven't done anything." Lucas said disappointedly.

"Me either, I just got kicked off the Bulls, what's there to be proud of?" Nathan asked harshly.

Dan took a small breath, looking at his sons with unwavering conviction. "Lucas, you're a two time best selling author, and you've won numerous awards for your works. I've even heard they're considering making it a movie in the next couple of years. Nathan, you played one year at Duke, a top college and were immediately drafted into the Bulls where you played for a whole season and broke a bunch of records, some that Michael Jordan himself set. That's nothing to be ashamed of. Doing coke and womanizing, well, you're a twenty-year old millionaire, what did they expect? Not that I condone it or anything, but you'll bounce back, son."

"Yeah, I guess. Well I'm planning to stay here for good, and help Peyton raise Sawyer, hopefully as a family, but time will tell. Jaime's here for his own ulterior motive and Nathan, he'll be here for the next couple months. So you'll be seeing us a lot more, and I'm sorry I stayed out of touch, I just needed time." Lucas explained, his eyes downcast.

"Yeah, me too." Nathan added on apologetically.

"It's okay, you guys are here now, and that's all that matters." Dan stated. "Have you seen Sawyer yet, Lucas?"

"No, not yet. Peyton promised to introduce me to her later on today after we go buy a house." Luke replied warmly, smiling at the prospect of meeting his daughter.

"I know that little girls got to be cute as hell." Jaime stated, clapping Lucas on the shoulder.

"So what kind of house are you looking for?" Dan asked, "I know some connects and can get you a good deal." He added.

"Hmm… prolly something big and spacious considering all three of us will live in it. I was thinking a three to four bedroom beach house, each with its separate full bathroom and two full kitchens." Lucas replied.

"I know just the thing." Dan informed them. "Let's go."

"Shotgun!" Nathan cried out, "I'm riding with dad, the Mustang's too little for tall people like me." Nathan added, turning his nose up at Jaime jokingly.

"The Mustang's not little!" Jaime growled out, baring his white teeth. "I'm taller than you asshole." He seethed, and the father and his two sons laughed at his expense.

**V**

Retired Navy Pilot Captain Enrique Luis Gines knew he'd never win the father of the year award; hell most of his kids hated him. Then again, he had allowed his oldest Miguel to go wayward, missing mostly everything in the boy's life and allowing the prodigal son to try to pave his way through life with gangbanging and selling dope on the streets. Refusing to be under his father's shadow, the skinny Puerto Rican had gotten an Associates Degree in Music Engineering, and hadn't been able to break through into the realm of rap music and resorted to making money through drug trades, rather than going under his father's wing. His son Jaime, hell, he really fucked up on that one, scarring the boy forever after he'd slept with his son's fiancée, knocked her up and sent her on a mission as her CO that ended up killing her in Fallon, Nevada. Jaime had disappeared after receiving a dismissal from the Commodore and was stripped of his golden wings for striking him.

Enrique had made sure his son would be set for life after that, depositing money into his son's account and making sure he'd be released under good terms with disability for 'mental' reasons. But that hadn't stopped Jaime from hating him, and instead Jaime had disappeared off the map for a while before becoming a professional racer for Rousch and landing stunt driver positions in a few movies.

He'd kept tabs on him, refusing to not be a part in his son's life, but then five days ago, Jaime had quit his position at Rousch and was now on all the front pages of newspapers, accompanied by the alluring Brooke Davis.

What the hell was his son doing with the famous and rich fashion designer?

They had been spotted in Chicago, thousands of miles away from Jacksonville, Florida. He had to find his son immediately, or just hope that Jaime didn't hate him enough to visit or call.

Keyla his only daughter was a singer, and aspiring evangelist. But lately she too had been treading on a thin line. Luis, his youngest son had recently found out about his father's betrayal to his son and had began acting out in anger. Too young and naïve to understand the harshness and cruelty of life, Luis had rebelled against his father and mother and rarely showed up for meals, and had stopped going to church altogether.

The forty-seven year father of four sighed and wondered where did he fuck in life. How had he become so cynical and evil? He had lived under a rule of discipline under his strict parents, and while they beat him with love, it had ingrained in him a numbing in the action of violence in itself. He had graduated high school and married his high school sweetheart two years later. Two years after that he had graduated the University of Caguas, PR and gotten his degree in Criminal Justice and Aviation Management.

He had always wanted to fly.

Dreamed of it.

As a kid all he had in the poorest districts of Rio Grande was a few toy planes his parents could afford to buy. During his stint in college he'd been a member of ROTC, and had jumped directly into the Navy and went to Officer Candidate School, months later he had become an official Naval Aviator.

He had started out on the old H-53 helicopters, then transitioned into the F-14 Tomcat jet during Desert Storm. By the time he had made Lieutenant Commander in 1998, he had transitioned back into helicopters onto the old MH-60 Bravos. By the time he had made Captain in 2005, the Navy had begun its official release of the prototype MH-60 Romeos and Sierras.

He had pressured his son to quit basketball, and become a pilot like he was. He just didn't think his son would become cynical in the process. Jaime had always been special to him, he had an arrogant swagger to him that had let the world know no one would be able to stop him in his tracks. That swagger had also been taking into his style of basketball, and for his four years at high school. Jaime didn't have much time for girls in high school, between being there for his younger siblings since Miguel was either in jail or out selling drugs, he had been a father to them and a friend. Jaime had gotten a diploma and a degree in the same year, utilizing the 164 IQ he'd been blessed with, and juggling basketball.

Knowing this, he had utilized a LTJG Jackeline Rivera, a beautiful temptress of Puerto Rican and Dominican heritage.

She had been eager to please him, in and out of the bedroom.

He'd given her a sole mission, to seduce his son Jaime and get him to become the youngest pilot in Naval Aviation History.

For the longest time, prior to Jackeline's arrival into his son's life, he'd outright refused. His plan had been to graduate college at Penn State, play ball, and go on to the NBA. Enrique had thought it to be ludicrous, and didn't think he'd have the raw talent to make it.

Knowing his son hadn't ever been intimate with a woman, he had used Jackeline, played matchmaker and she had taken his innocence at the tender age of 17. She had been 24 at the time, and he had been the ultimate jailbait.

Under her insistent pressure, he finally had caved and complied with his father's wishes. It had been tough, watching his son chase after her like a lovesick puppy, but he'd allowed it.

Watching her genuinely lead him on throughout his short career had been tougher, and he finally had set it up for his son to catch him in the middle of the act, assuming his son would be forgiving. He hadn't expected Jackeline to be pregnant, he hadn't expected the raw hurt in his son's eyes, nor the rage that followed.

Ultimately he hadn't expected her to die, to crash into a power cable and kill 5 people.

The worst of it was that Jaime had forgiven her, he'd still maintained his relationship with the stupid bitch, but he hadn't forgiven his father.

Now Enrique knew he had been wrong, hell he knew it all along, just not to the severity and extent he did today. Being a retired Captain and having nothing more to do than think about previous regrets did that to you.

He had been a bastard on an unheard of scale.

He had a perfectly beautiful wife at home, whom he had cheated on repeatedly over in his last sixteen years of service. Deployments could do that to you, he had missed all of the important parts of his kid's lives, and he had paid a junior pilot to seduce his son into the Navy.

If he could cry, he really would.

He was beyond redemption; there was no heaven for people like him.

"Baby, what's wrong?" his wife of twenty-five years asked.

Enrique Gines looked over at his wife, covered in sweat as they had just finished their coupling. Rosa Maria Gines-Crespo was the epitome of beautiful, curly brown hair pulled back in a ponytail, as she looked at him through smoky green eyes. Tanned skin with a few freckles, her soft lips pressed a kiss to his chest.

Enrique lit a cigarette, taking a deep drag and blowing the smoke into the air. "Nothing at all." He said with a wolfish grin.

**VI**

"We're buying this place, fuck what ya heard." Jaime stated, a wolfish grin on his lips. Smirking at his best friend and his brother, the two brothers could only nod as they looked at the beach house Dan had taken them to. The funny part was that they hadn't even stepped inside yet.

"Told you I knew a place." Dan said, smiling.

The beach house was about 4 miles away from Dan's old beach house that he'd given to Peyton. It was big, with a wooden walkway leading out to the beach for fishing. The four men walked up to the door and Dan pulled out a small key and unlocked the door and they stepped inside.

"Jesus!" Lucas exclaimed in awe after the passed the vestibule. Dan led them into the living room, fully done with a fireplace and a set of brand new leather couches. They walked onwards to the first kitchen, with redwood cabinets and drawers and marble countertops. The second kitchen was done the same way, and after seeing the beautiful dining room, they headed upstairs to the master bedrooms.

The beach house had three master bedrooms and two guest rooms. The floorboards were made of beautiful oak and each master bedroom was spacious. Even the guest rooms were bigger than normal bedrooms. They saw all bathrooms, three full bathrooms in each room. Each bathroom had a shower and a large circular tub for bathing.

Dan led them downstairs to the backyard where there was a large Jacuzzi out back and a nice grilling area. The rest of the backyard was sand, and then a concrete slab that could fit six cars. Behind that was a fence, and behind that was a small sandy road that led back up to the main road taking you back downtown.

"Dad, this is perfect, how much is it?" Nathan asked in awe.

"Six hundred fifty thousand, but for you guys it's free, here's your key. I suggest you all make copies." Dan said, tossing the small key he had used earlier.

"You gotta be kidding." Jaime retorted with a snort.

"No, the place is mines and I was getting rid of it. Lord knows I owe Luke and Nate more than I'll be able to pay off in this lifetime so I might as well starts now, that and I really don't need the money if you haven't guessed." Dan replied, letting out a small laugh.

"We can't take this from you for free." Lucas stated.

"You can and you will." Dan fired back.

"At least let us pay something." Jaime offered.

"Fine, since you guys won't take it for free, how about one hundred thousand and we'll call it even?" Dan replied.

"That's too little, at least let us pay half." Lucas said.

"Three hundred thousand, fine, but on one condition." Dan offered.

"What's that?" Jaime asked.

"After you guys get all your stuff and all you need, you throw a big dinner and party with everyone invited." Dan bargained, crossing his arms and pretending to put on a serious face.

"Whatever." Lucas said indifferently, though it did give him a bit of comfort knowing that Dan was trying his best to worm his way into his son's life.

"Troublesome." Jaime exclaimed lazily, before pulling out his checkbook out of his back pocket. Writing down the numbers and signing it, he handed it to Dan Scott. "Here's a check for the whole amount. Just give us the papers when you get a chance, because we're prolly moving in today." Jaime informed him, handing him the check.

"Hey!" Lucas cried out indignantly. "We're all paying for this place."

"No, you're not. That's my welcome back present to you Lucas, so shut up and deal. Same for Nathan." Jaime explained.

"I'm paying you back, right away." Lucas responded.

"No you're not. I owe you Luke, more than you'll ever know. And if I'm right about something, you'll be paying me back, a lot more than you think." Jaime said, raising his eyebrow at the blonde.

"I can't complain, let's go shopping bitches." Nathan said comically, and Lucas smacked him upside the head.

"What do you mean I'll be paying you back more than I think?" Lucas asked.

Jaime took a deep breath. "I kinda fucked Brooke with no rubber las' night. She wasn't on the pill either, so if she's pregnant, you'll be the godfather." Jaime confessed bluntly.

"You idiot!" Lucas exclaimed.

"I know, but we were pretty wasted and things got out of hand. Well let's get a U-haul and fill 'er up and get this place going. I got some music I need to work on before ya girl starts riding me in a not so fun way." Jaime replied smartly.

**VII**

"So what do you think?" Haley asked her long time friend Peyton Sawyer as the two women hung out in the studio, having just finished recording two new songs. They hadn't mastered them yet, but had just finished recording the piano's melody and Haley's vocals.

"You moving to Tree Hill for good, Haley, you know I'd love that." Peyton admitted, a smile on her lips.

"Not for good, I won't say that, but at least for the next couple of years while I raise Jamie. I'll still record and all, but I won't tour anymore. I'll tell the label I'm doing one last farewell tour and then I'm done for good." Haley confessed.

"If you don't mind me asking what brought this on?" Peyton asked. "It can't be about Nathan, you guys aren't gonna like…"

"No…no, me and Nate aren't getting back together. It's because of Jamie that I'm doing this. I saw what the divorce did to Nathan, and I just don't want my son growing up bitter thinking his mom never loved him. I've been gone so long I forgot what my son looked like… I'm such a horrible mother. So that's why I'm doing this, it's time I grew up. I've been so focused on singing and making money that I forgot what it was all about in the first place, it was about taking care of my family, and somewhere down the line I've forgotten that."

"You're not a horrible mother Haley, life is just… you got caught up, but you're doing something about it. It's never too late."

The two sat there in silence. "OMG, so much drama in the room, my vagina's ticklish." A voice called out interrupting them, followed by a slow, sarcastic clapping.

Jaime strode into the room, carrying in a drink carrier with three Starbucks in it. "God, you're so annoying…" Haley exclaimed angrily.

"That's what they all say before they sleep with me." Jaime fired back, handing her a cup. Haley looked at it like it was poison, and Jaime relented. "Fine I'm sorry, it's just a java chip frappucino. I figured since we're probably going to be working late, I'd be nice and get coffee. I guess I should of brought you Midol or something."

"I will bitch slap you." Haley warned him.

"That's an excuse to get your hands on my hot body." Jaime replied suggestively, running his hands over his chest, before handing Peyton her drink. "Alright, time to get to work. Peyton, you're like the producer here, you tell me what's up." Jaime said, before drinking some of his drink.

"Thanks for the Starbucks, and screw you for being a jackass." Peyton said playfully, giving him a small smirk.

"I can't work with him." Haley exclaimed.

"Why not?" Peyton asked.

"Because he's a cocky, arrogant, corporate bastard." Haley responded indignantly.

"She's kind of upset because the first time I met her I told her she had nice dick sucking lips. That sounds like a compliment to me." Jaime said nonchalantly, before shrugging.

"You're a pompous douche." Haley fired back.

"Agreed." Peyton and Jaime said simultaneously, and the three broke out in laughter.

"Look Haley, my bad, sometimes the bloods too busy flowing down south to reach the brain and I say some stupid stuff, case in point. But seriously, I heard you can sing your ass off, and I need to record a few tracks so I can play with Brooke when she gets in so the faster we do this, the faster I can get back to well you know." Jaime offered apologetically.

"Fine." Haley sighed defeatedly.

"I don't think Brooke's in the mood for playing tonight, you haven't seen the papers have you?" Peyton asked.

"No, there's never any truth in them." Jaime replied and caught the newspaper Peyton tossed his way. After looking at the headline, he tossed it back. "Or not. Troublesome."

"So what are you trying to record?" Brooke asked.

"Well, I'm going to need a good pianist and singer, so I need you." Jaime said, before letting out a stifled yawn.

"You don't need me, you want me." Haley corrected, then realized the double meaning and let out a gasp.

Jaime snorted, "Conceited!" Haley glared at him. "Okay, so maybe I did before I met Brooke, but now it's all professional."

"Jaime, just shut up. Like now." Peyton advised.

Jaime gave her a sloppy grin.

"So what exactly are you trying to do Jaime, do you have the lyrics and everything?" Haley asked.

"Not really, I'll just make that up as we go along, just trust me, I'm good at improvising. But for the melody and chords, I want you to play a slowed down version of Fur Elise by Beethoven and I'll play the drums behind it. I'm thinking the beat should be at ninety beats per minute." Jaime explained.

"That's fine, I definitely know how to play Fur Elise. But what about bass, guitars, and everything else?" Haley asked.

"Well it's rap, so I can used a synthesized version of it on Fruity Loops. I'm pretty well versed with it, so we should be done by the time the guys get here." Jaime replied. "Where's lil' Jamie by the way?"

"He's over at Nana Deb's, I already texted Nathan and let him know." Haley informed him.

"Cool, well let's get started." Jaime offered, and the three of them headed over to the soundproof booth.

Haley began her haunting rendition of Fur Elise, a bit slower than Beethoven had in mind, but it was eerie and just the way Jaime wanted it. Jaime followed in with the drums, and the two of them re-played it over and over for the next hour until both musicians were satisfied.

"That's pretty cool, I've never done anything with rap before, I don't have to rhyme or nothing for my parts, do I? I'll sound so stupid." Haley whined.

"Nah shawty. I'll do that, I'll jump in the first verse, lay down the hook together, then I'll take the second verse, another hook, and you'll sing your part for the third and we'll close it out from there." Jaime explained.

"You ready?" Haley asked, and Peyton could only watch in amazement as the two musicians began. They had been able to cast aside their differences (or just Haley's) and laid down something special.

As the first part of Fur Elise began, Jaime did as well.

The pain, I don't' wanna feel no mo', smoke burns my throat,

My mind cloudy by THC, so then I cough some more.

I don't feel like doin' shit, I don't even wanna flow,

Fuck rapping in a studio, feels like my mind too slow,

I'm on a whole different wavelength, on cloud nine I ride,

Kush burning my eyes, tripping on the way to Tree Hill on 95.

She say she gonna leave me, If I don't stop getting' high,

We've been together for a long time, Mary Jane and I,

So even if I let her go, somehow she'll come back to me.

I got a stash hidden in the whip, let's make love and laugh with me,

Actually, nothing can separate us that's fact to me,

Ghosts of the pasts haunts me, I guess Jacky's mad at me.

But I'm way too stoned, and it's sad to see,

One man broken beyond recognition, hurts so much he don't give a fuck.

Smoke dried up his tears, so he just rolls up a blunt.

Jaime stopped for a second and let the melody soothe him, and tears sprung to his eyes. This song was all about her. He looked over at Haley with bloodshot eyes, and nodded, and the two began their duet.

Scratch below the surface and you can feel the pain,

You've done your damage, sunlight clouded by rain,

You're already gone, so there's one thing I need to know,

Why can't you let me go?

Scratch below the surface and you can feel the pain,

You've done your damage, sunlight clouded by rain,

You're already gone, so there's one thing I need to know,

Why can't you let me go?

Jaime lit up a cigarette as the music flowed into a pounding flare of keys and snares. Cymbals clashed in the background, and bass flooded his ears. Peyton gave him a dirty look as he smoked, but he continued smoking. He then began the second verse.

It seems like every time I see you, it's just never the right time,

I ain' got no answers to your questions, Jacky please toss me a life line,

Your cloud hangs over me, no sun cause its always nighttime,

You're still six feet under, I ain' been in my right mind.

So I spark up another one, and just believe destiny put us on separate timelines,

I'm no Dante, too scared to go to hell to see what I might find,

And if it weren't for these bloodshot eyes then I might cry,

And if it weren't for the weed then I might die,

And if I didn't have this blunt on hand, then I might try,

I finally forgiven you, because the River Styx waits for no man,

Because life with you was like a beach with no sand,

Drowning in women and alcohol, felt like I had no plan,

But then I met Mary Jane, that's the day I stopped being your man.

My world is empty without you, this world's too cold,

We were born to die, sometimes I wonder if I'm too old,

You're already gone and there's one thing I need to know,

Why can't you let me go?

Haley and Jaime began singing the hook again, and then Jaime stopped, his part finished. Haley took over for him, and sung the final portion of the song.

You let me go, am I dreaming?

You don't love me anymore, am I screaming?

I'm bleeding, and there's one thing you need to know…

I can't let you go.

The warm embrace of death surrounds me, am I hurting?

The flames so bright and hot, am I burning?

I'm learning that this is the end of the road…

I let you go.

Jaime deposited the lit cigarette out of the window. Looking at Haley with amazement, he was overwhelmed with the raw emotion. "That was great Haley." He complimented her sincerely. Wiping the tears from his eyes with his sleeve, he accepted the hug she gave him.

"I know, you were great Jaime. I don't even like rap, but that was so different and special…"

"You forgot creepy." Peyton said, interrupting Haley. Peyton had a smile on her face though, and looked at Jaime with her beautiful green eyes. "You guys are so performing that tonight as soon as we can get the beat." She commanded.

"You thought it was creepy?" Jaime asked, surprised.

"Yeah, with Fur Elise in the background and the whole song being about getting high to stop the haunting of your dead ex-girlfriend, yea, totally creepy in a badass way. How you came up with this, well I know, but to be able to lay that down on music, that was so cool. I think I cried throughout the whole song…" Peyton confessed.

"I didn't… my eyes were bothering me because of the smoke." Jaime lied, a casual grin on his face.

"You had tears before you started smoking." Haley accused, punching him in the arm. "You have to be on my new album Jaime, pretty please." Haley said, giving him the puppy eyed look.

"Sure, it'd be a pleasure." Jaime said, nodding.

"So what's the song called, 'Let me go'?" Peyton asked.

Jaime could only nod.

**VIII**

The club was dark, save for the strobe lights that would light up the crowd, as alternative rock blared through the Tweeter speakers. People danced and gyrated in a sad attempt to escape the world they lived in, as if drinking and dancing were their release from everyday life. That could be said for a lot of them, save for a few. Some enjoyed going to the club for the music, their true escape, to astral project themselves into a time where life was simple and good.

That's the best part of music, some said.

Music could touch you in ways your significant other couldn't. It would snake its way into you, a beastly, slithery cobra into the canals of your ears and control you. Music is the reason rednecks drink till they puke every time they hear 'Free Bird' by Lynnyrd Skynyrd. Or the reason women grinded till they got an erection out of their male counterparts every time they heard 'Culo' by Pitbull.

Music was a beautiful thing, free in spirit, its melodies controlled the airwaves and the people they effected.

Brooke Davis was one pissed off girl.

She wanted to grab Jaime Gines from the studio and kiss him and grind against his muscular body till they ended up in the closest bed they could find. But she couldn't, and with the news coverage of the last time they had gone out, she was pretty hesitant as it was. Not to mention her ungodly bitch of a mother was coming down to ream her out like she actually cared about Brooke, though Brooke contemplated just firing her and hoping she'd never hear from Victoria ever again.

After ordering an apple martini from the bar, she sat there fuming, drinking as she took all the music in. "Hey pretty girl, what's wrong?" a voice interrupted her thoughts.

Normally the question would have ended up with her throwing a martini into the guy's face, or at least a knee to the groin, but she easily recognized the voice and nickname of one Lucas Scott.

"Kinda pissed actually." She replied softly, not offering any more details.

There was a click of a lighter and a burst of smoke to annoy her out of her musings. "Why because you might be pregnant or because of the newspaper article. If your pregnant, just know that Jaime will take care of you, there's no doubt about that. But other than that, don't pay attention to the media, they're all dicks. I had one guy say Peyton was a guy and I was gay." Lucas offered, taking another deep drag out of his cigarette.

"Put that out will you!" Brooke bit off waspishly. "You are gay anyways, so he was dead on."

Lucas ignored her first command and took another drag before pinching it between his thumb and index finger and putting it out on the ashtray. "How do you figure?"

"All you do is brood… and you broke up with me, me Brooke Davis, the hottest chick in high school." She claimed pitifully.

"Yes, I brood, and I have a stupid squint too, can' help it. But I think Peyton got you beat, though you were a close runner up." Lucas whispered, and now the temptation to spray his stupid blonde hair with the martini was higher than ever before.

"So should I worry about Peyton fucking Jaime? She took you away after all." Brooke replied, and then laughed as Lucas sputtered out a cough.

"We just didn't work skinny girl, and I think you know that." Lucas stated, then motioned for the bartender. "Let me get a Jack and Coke." He said, before tossing a twenty dollar bill on the counter.

"I've been wanting to tell you this for a while Luke, but you're a bastard. Or at least was, I don't know who you are now. But back then, I loved you, more than anybody in the world and you cheated on me. I let you back in after you begged your way back into my pants, and then you dumped me and screwed Peyton. That… that messed me up for a while, even now. The only reason I didn't hate Peyton back then was because she needed me to be there for her after you ditched her, so I was, unlike you. But for the longest, I shut all the guys out after that, and I've been messing up every relationship since, so thank you for that." Brooke said coldly, and then got up from the bar to walk out, until she saw Peyton take the stage.

"Alright Tree Hill, how are you doing tonight?" Peyton asked.

The answer was ruckus, as they screamed and howled into the night.

"You guys remember Jaime, the Florida boy who freestyled up here a couple nights ago?" Peyton asked.

Most people cheered, though a few did boo.

"Well he's just been signed to my label Red Bedroom records, and he's just got done producing a song with one Haley James, one of Tree Hill's own. Please give it up to Jaime and Haley's 'Let Me Go'." Peyton said, introducing the pair.

The lights cut out, and the slowed down version of Fur Elise began playing. People in the crowd stood in awe, mesmerized by Haley's talent.

Next to Lucas at the bar appeared Nathan, and he too quite vividly remembered how good Haley was. "The pain I don't wanna feel no mo', smoke burns my throat." A voice called out and Jaime appeared on the stage.

Brooke froze, mesmerized by his appearance. "Let me go…" Haley sung from the background.

Jaime stood there rapping, in a white button up shirt with a black blazer over it, and a pair of light blue jeans and white Adidas. On top of his head was a New York Yankees fitted cap, and Brooke nearly salivated.

How could one man pull the look?

How could one man make her so weak in the knees?

The duo performed the rest of the song on stage, the tone of the beat dark and brooding, the drum bass booming, the electric guitar howling in digital agony. Tears sprung to her eyes as she heard the two rap and sing their emotions, blending in between sorrowful melancholy and melodies.

She knew who Jaime spoke of, and at least now she knew that Jaime really had let Jackie go after meeting her, that's what the song was about. Carefully hidden beneath the subcontext, this was a song of lament and of joy, of pain, and forgiveness.

After Haley sung the last portion of the song, the lights cut out and the crowd burst into an array of clapping and cheering.

Jaime came down the stage, New York Yankees hat cocked sideways as he swaggered over to her. "Hey." He greeted, and grabbed her by the waist and pulled her to him, planting his lips firmly on hers. "So I heard the dick is out of the bag, huh?"

Brooke pushed him away and saw the hurt in his eyes. "You didn't tell me you were famous!" she accused. "We're on the front page everywhere, and I don't know if we can do this, I own a multi-millionaire dollar company, and you still got obligations to Rousch…"

Jaime shut her up with another demanding kiss. It was ravenous, rough, and borderline forceful. His tongue invaded her mouth and swept her up into sweet bliss. Pulling away, he looked at her through dark green irises. "I'm hardly famous nena… I want you so bad, and you know that, but if you can't do this, if I'm not enough, then I won't hold it against you. I won't hold you back Brooke. So you think about it, and you let me know…" Turning away, he began to walk away from her. Turning his head, he looked at her a frown on his lips. "I'll be around." He gave her a mock salute, and took off towards the exit, where women began to try to talk to him.

Then her cell phone rung, it was her mother.

**IX**

Lucas looked over at Peyton who was walking towards him. He gave her a nod as a way of greeting, then got back to sipping his Heineken. "Bad day?" she asked, her voice sultry.

"Not anymore." He replied, giving her a leering grin.

"Lucas we have to talk…" Peyton began, and Luke frowned.

"Every time someone says that, it never ends well." Lucas stated. His eyes squinted as he gave her a pointed look.

"I think maybe we kind of jumped into this whole dating situation too fast." Peyton admitted, looking frightened, as she didn't know how he'd take it.

"Go figure." Lucas muttered on his breath and took another sip of his beer.

"I need you to hear this out, okay?" she asked.

Lucas nodded numbly, and didn't reply.

"I think we jumped in it too early, but I still have feelings for you. A lot of feelings for you that never went away when you left two years when you abandoned me. I haven't gotten over that, but I still feel for you, even now. But I'm not the girl you knew in high school, you ruined her." Peyton stated morbidly, and Lucas wondered why he bothered to listen. She was obviously breaking up with him, he should have realized the relationship couldn't have lasted too long.

"But I'm a different woman now, I'm a successful mother to one beautiful Sawyer Scott. You need to realize that this isn't about us anymore Luke. Both of us have changed, and now one little girl hangs in the balance of it all. I need to fall in love with the Lucas of now for this to work, and you need to fall in love with the Peyton of now. But with that being said, even though I did jump in this relationship with you last night, I meant it, every last word. But this is your last chance Luke, don't mess this up, or by God I'm through with you." Peyton warned him.

Luke nodded numbly. He couldn't believe it. She hadn't broken up with him, she had done the exact opposite. "Yeah, I get it." Lucas replied.

"Then come on." Peyton said, motioning him with her hand.

"What's up?" Lucas asked.

"You're gonna take me home, see your daughter while she's asleep, kiss me goodnight, and go home. Then tomorrow you'll join us for breakfast at the café, ten o'clock on the dot." Peyton instructed.

Lucas caught up to her, and spun her around kissing her firmly on the lips. "You have no idea how much I love you right now."

"You better."

End of Chapter Six: Let Me Go

A/N PT2: I really am sorry for the delay. Internet connectivity in the Bahamas suck, so I had to wait till I got back to the states. Feel free to review.


	8. Arc 2: Sex: Breakdown

The Simplicity of Eternity

Chapter Seven: Breakdown

I

Sunlight filtered through his room, irritating his eyes as the infamous beams of bright light tore into his blue eyes unchecked, bypassing the fleshy bits of flesh called eyelids, causing him to get up. Irritated and brooding over the loss of the very good dream he had involving Peyton, Lucas Scott tumbled out of bed, the sunrise on the horizon, her name on his lips. Clad in just pair of CK boxers, he walked out of the bedroom and into his own bathroom.

After showering and brushing his teeth, he headed down to the kitchen where his unemployed brother waited for him. "Jaime's gone." Nathan announced.

"What do you mean?" Lucas asked worriedly.

"Car's gone and he left a note." Nathan replied, a frown marring his face. "Anything happen last night that I should know about?" Nathan asked suspiciously.

"Brooke broke it off with him, except I didn't think he'd take it hard, they weren't serious." Lucas pointed out.

"Well maybe he was serious." Nathan responded, getting up from the brand new leather couch. Nathan had his eyebrow raised at Lucas. "He is your best friend after all, you should have known he'd take it this hard." Nathan pointed out accusingly.

"Things happened kind of fast last night. I was busy trying to make it up to Peyt, and convince her to let me see Sawyer and he was gone and left with some girls, wait a minute… you said he left with Mouth?" Lucas said disbelievingly.

"Yeah, here's the note." Nathan replied, handing him a note he held in his hands.

_Luke & Nate,_

_Don' worry about me, I'm just taking a couple days off. I'm fina come back to Tree Hill when I'm done. Just keep setting up the beach house for us 'til I get back. Shouldn't be more than a week, by the way I'm hanging out with Mouth, weird huh? He seemed kinda down at TRIC the other night, figured I'd take him out for a bit, get him laid once, or a few times, lmao. Tell Peyt not to worry about the album, it'll get done when I get back and I already have something done. Brooke, if you see her tell her I said good luck in New York and that whatever we had, no matter how short meant a lot to me. Don't be a douche bag to Peyton, and don't fuck up another chance. See you in a bit!_

_Jaime Gines_

Crumbling up the note into a ball, Lucas tossed it to the side angrily. "That asshole." He muttered. "Who does he think he is, just run away when things get rough?"

"Reminds you of you, doesn't it? At least he said he was coming back in a week, better than what you gave us." Nathan responded with a smirk. "I'm going to the river court for a bit, see you later big brother." Nathan added, heading out the door, leaving Lucas alone to muse in his thoughts.

Pulling out his cell phone, he dialed in Dan's number. After two rings the phone was picked up abruptly. "Good morning Lucas, what do you need at this hour in the morning?" Dan asked politely.

"Sorry 'bout that. Hey I'm in dire need of a car, I kind of left Keith's Mustang in Jacksonville and I'm not heading back any time soon. Is there any chance you still have the car dealership?" Lucas asked.

"Where's Jaime?" Dan asked.

"No idea, he left sometime last night on an outing with Mouth, he said he'd be back next week." Lucas replied honestly.

"Hm, he and Brooke got into a lover's spat, didn't they?" Dan asked.

"Yea, I guess she broke off whatever they had." Lucas answered quietly.

"Alright, well bring your skinny ass over here and I'll get you a brand new car." Dan offered warmly.

"Right now, the dealership's a bit away, I'll call you when I get a ride." Lucas responded.

"How 'bout I pick you up?" Dan asked.

Lucas groaned inwardly, he still wasn't on the best terms with his father. "That's fine, I'll be on the porch." Lucas replied.

While he awaited his father he lit a cigarette and tried to call Jaime's phone several times but each time he called it rung up disconnected. 'Probably turned his phone off.' Lucas mused.

Rather than dwell on it and get worried about his fellow stoner and best friend, Lucas began to think of the day that lay ahead of him. He made sure to dress nice in a pair of casual blue jeans and a blue plaid shirt with a pair of tan Timberland boots. The sleeves were rolled up on the plaid shirt, he knew that later it'd probably be a bit warmer.

His father pulled up in a black Chevy Tahoe. Walking up to the big SUV, Lucas opened up the passenger door and was greeted by his father's warm smile and serene blue eyes.

Lucas would have shot himself in the face years ago for calling Dan's smile warm and his eyes serene but inwardly Lucas knew this was a different Dan.

"Mornin' old man." Lucas greeted smiling.

"I'm not an old man, I can still whip your scrawny ass on the river court." Dan boasted and Lucas let out a laugh.

"You wish."

II

After making sure Sawyer was still asleep, Peyton Sawyer slowly walked down the wooden stairs of her house to make sure not to wake her daughter. As she silently came down, she noticed Brooke's bags next to the living room packed as if she were ready to bolt at any second.

"Brooke, are you leaving?" Peyton asked quietly, seeing her brunette in the kitchen, sipping on a cup of coffee.

"Yea, I have to return to New York, things are hectic over there and I need to be there." Brooke answered sadly, her voice low and rasping.

"Brooke, what's the real reason you're leaving, we were talking about opening up a Clothes over Bros here in Tree Hill? This is because of Jaime isn't it?" Peyton asked, though she already knew it to be true.

"No, it's about me. I left New York behind, and I realized I can't run anymore. Jaime has nothing to do with this, he just made me realize that relationships are messy and sticky and I can't do that right now, I'm not ready to commit." Brooke stated, though Peyton was seeing through her.

"You're scared and you're running away from how he made you feel…" Peyton stated, sighing as she sat down on her couch.

"Stop it Peyton, just stop it. It's not that simple, I can't just drop my life on a guy I barely know." Brooke spat out angrily.

"Yeah, well you knew him enough to sleep with him didn't you? If you were just going to bail from the beginning, you shouldn't have led him on." Peyton chastised her.

"It was a one night thing… we were drunk Peyton, and I know it doesn't excuse it but stop it already. What's done is done." Brooke replied.

"No it's not. You knew what he went through and you had to add on to that didn't you. At least he's gone for now, sometimes you make me ashamed to be your friend." Peyton responded.

Brooke flinched at the harsh verbal jab. "He's gone, what do you mean gone?" Brooke asked.

"I don't know, Lucas sent me a text saying that Jaime's disappeared and he'll be back in a week or so. He'll be over in a bit for breakfast so he gave me the heads up." Peyton replied. "He might have been a lot of things, but he did care for you Brooke, despite the bravado and the arrogance, he was opening up to you of all people and you pissed that away. That's what upsets me, not that you stopped seeing him, but that you allowed it to get as far as it did knowing what happened to him with his ex." Peyton added.

"Neither of us thought that far ahead. I tried discouraging him and he kept pushing until he had me, I'm sorry that it hurt him but I'm not sorry for what happened." Brooke shot back, putting the coffee mug back into the sink.

"Sometimes, you really suck Brooke Davis." Peyton bit out through gritted teeth.

"I don't think Jaime complained too much about the sucking part, and with that I gotta go, I'll see you around P. Sawyer." Brooke said jeeringly, giving Peyton a pained grin. Grabbing her two bags, she stepped out of the front door and into a limousine without looking back.

Peyton sat on her sofa, fuming as she sipped her coffee.

Perhaps Lucas could cheer her up, now that was a good thought.

III

Nathan sat on the bleachers, exhausted from his extensive training. He knew he couldn't sit around and mope all day, his muscles would atrophy and be useless in case he ever did get the chance to play again. Gasping for breath and thirsty, he grabbed his water bottle and soaked his parched throat. He'd been here for a while, playing basketball to plague his mind of his life's uncertainties.

He didn't know if he'd ever play basketball again, he didn't know anything.

A silver Ford Expedition SUV pulled onto the grass and Nathan's eyebrows arched, he already knew who it was.

It was his ex-wife Haley James. Groaning internally, he then remembered she had probably stopped by to give him his son back. He knew that Haley had left him with Deb last night to attend to the party at Tric. That didn't bother him, seeing as how it'd been a while since his mother spent time with Jamie and at least Haley had been responsible enough to get a sitter.

Jamie could have had a worse mother, someone like Nikki, Jake's ex.

Wiping the sweat from his forehead, Nathan began walking up to her, walking in careful, but brisk strides. "Hales…" he greeted in acknowledgement.

"Nathan." Haley greeted as she stepped out of her SUV and opened the backseat to grab Jamie. Grabbing the sleeping child she waited for Nathan to arrive at her car.

"Surprised he's still asleep, little ball of energy he is." Nathan stated with genuine surprised.

Haley laughed a little and gave him a smile. "Yeah, apparently Deb let him stay up for a while and spent time with him. And yeah, he's a ball of energy alright, I can definitely attest to that." Haley agreed.

"You know you can keep for a bit longer if you want, I know I was kind of rude and told you to bring him back the next day. If you're going to be in Tree Hill awhile I don't mind you keeping him for a few days." Nathan offered, much to Haley's surprise.

"I'd like that." Haley admitted, surprised he offered to let her keep him for a few more days and actually kind of apologized.

"Look Haley, I know I wasn't too receptive of you being around, but I realized something… people deserve second chances, sometimes third and fourth ones. You're his mother and a kid should always have a mother, I'm not saying I want there to be an us, because when I think of what we were, all I remember is pain, lies, and pain. I know it's not all your fault either, but I do want to make the best of this situation." Nathan confessed.

Haley looked at him aghast, and decided to place Jamie back into his car seat.

"Pain? That's all you remember in our entire relationship Nathan? What about the good memories?" Haley demanded. "It wasn't all pain Nathan, I remember good times." Haley bit off, her eyes watering up.

"Haley, I love you, I do, but let's not make it look like we had something that we didn't. We got married too young, and we grew up too fast. Do you remember when you left me the first time, I was seeing red. I was so angry, that you couldn't compromise your goals with me. You didn't give me a choice, and you ran off with Chris Keller. Then we got together and had Jamie and I thought we finally had a chance but as I got picked for D1 basketball, you wanted to chase your dreams of music again because you couldn't stand to be just a housewife. I wasn't asking you to give up being a musician, just to wait until Jamie was old enough and things weren't so hectic with two parents on the road all the time.

"Then you cheated on me with Keller, again and again. I forgave you for that Hales, and then you ran away with him to be a singer and left me alone with Jamie. Don't tell me what we had wasn't just pain, because that's bullshit Haley, you hurt me over and over again." Nathan accused.

Tears slid down Haley's cheeks. "It wasn't like that, you didn't understand what I was going through." She replied, her breath catching in her throat as she was about to sob.

"I do. You felt like your personal goals weren't as important as mines. That your talent wouldn't develop if you sat out on the sidelines. Here I was in the spotlight, all eyes on me and you wanted that. You wanted the cheers and to move the crowd with your music, and there's nothing to be ashamed for in that. But what you put me through, put Jamie through, there's no excuse for that. I'm not telling you this to hurt you Hales, I told you I would love you, in good times and in bad ones, but don't tell me we had something we didn't." Nathan proclaimed.

Haley looked at him, eyes wide and shining with tears. "I'm sorry Nathan, for what it's worth. I saw what my leaving did to you and I didn't stop. But I changed, and I wanted you to see that. I'm not that insecure, foolish girl anymore." Haley pleaded.

"I thought you didn't want me anymore?" Nathan asked in confusion.

"I lied. I always have, even when I messed up. Why do you think all my songs are about atonement and redemption…they're about you and me Nathan. I want you still even now all sweaty and stuff. I want you despite you marrying my sister to spite me and you got addicted to coke and kicked out of the NBA, I still want you." Haley confessed.

She moved in closer to kiss him.

There lips were only millimeters away from each other, but then Nathan pulled away. "Prove it." He whispered.

"I'm trying to." she complained.

"No, not like this. Tonight there's a dinner thing we're supposed to have as a house warming. Jaime kinda bailed but Luke's still set on doing it so show up at seven in something pretty, bring a bottle of wine, and prove it then, tonight." Nathan replied, breathing heavily as he saw her cheeks flushed, her eyes brimming with tears and desire and he knew he was a fool for pulling away.

"Alright, I will." She relented. "Jaime left?" she asked quietly.

"Yeah, he left with Mouth somewhere and we don't know where he's at. I guess him and Brooke had a spat and broke things off." Nathan replied.

"Good that guy was an asshole." Haley commented.

"He really wasn't. You just didn't know or understand him. Did you know he was the one who bought the beach house for us? He was hurting and he probably never dealt with his grief. No one but Lucas and Brooke had gotten through to him and then Brooke broke it off, so I imagined it must of hurt him, it must of hit him real hard." Nathan explained.

Haley looked at him funny. "I could see that, me and him did a song together. It has to do with his dead ex doesn't it?" Haley asked.

"Something like that. I think he's hurting so much that he puts on this rude, egotistical front to hide behind. But the guy behind that, it's a good guy with good intentions. Otherwise he wouldn't be Lucas' best friend." Nathan stated.

"I guess." Haley amended.

"I've gotta go. But I'll see you tonight right?" Nathan asked.

"Yeah, wouldn't miss it for a thing." Haley replied.

IV

Lucas rang the doorbell at nine o'clock promptly. He was leaning back casually against the balcony railing, as he tried to dissuade his fears, and cover them up as naturally as Jaime did since he'd known him. He hoped it worked as the front door opened up and Peyton came out and Lucas lost his breath and almost choked on his drool.

Peyton came out in a black halter top and a short white miniskirt, revealing her long tantalizing legs. Her pretty feet were slid into some casual sandals and her toenails were painted red. Her hair was curled like it was in high school, her green eyes shimmering, beautiful pink lips curled into a knowing grin.

The halter top rose up a little as she stepped out to greet him and revealed a small strip of the bare flesh of her stomach. Mouth watering, Lucas managed to muster up the effort to walk up to her and smile. "Jesus you look beautiful Peyt." He confessed, unable to stop his hands from reaching out and placing them casually on her waist to pull her in for a kiss.

They shared a chaste kiss for a second, and Peyton pulled back and cocked her head to the side. "You coming in or are we making out here all day?"

"We can do whatever you want." Lucas growled out roughly, capturing her lips again.

…

Peyton heard the doorbell ring, and her nervousness rose. He was here. Attempting to calm herself, she straightened out her mini-skirt, knowing full well how much Lucas appreciated her legs. Besides her eyes, they were the best asset she had.

Walking over to the door, she opened the door and saw his appreciative stare as his eyes lingered on her legs.

Fully seeing him again, standing there in the sunlight, she wanted to melt into a puddle of Lucas loving goo. He stood there, leaning casually against her railing in a pair of blue jeans and a blue plaid shirt that brought out his eyes. He left the top two buttons unbuttoned, showing the white beater underneath.

He had on a pair of Timberland worker's boots and his hair still spiked sloppily, yet utterly hot at the same time. He was mostly clean shaven, except the little bit of beard he had under his chin.

Seeing him like this made Peyton want to throw caution to the wind and forget about taking their relationship slow. She desperately wanted him now, it'd been over two years without a man, without him inside of her. "Jesus you look beautiful Peyt." He drawled out, and Peyton swore she developed goose bumps easily.

She had dreamed about this moment for years, even after sleeping with him. She fantasized about him and hated him at the same time for a while, and now all she wanted was to be desperately in his arms again.

Before she could even breathe again, he walked up and placed her hands on her waist and she melted, sliding flush against his lean body. His lips were on hers and before she could savor it, he pulled away.

Asshole… she mused with a smile.

She decided to be sarcastic. "You coming in or are we making out here all day?" she asked with a smile.

Lucas squinted at her, before smiling again. "Whatever you want." He replied, before kissing her again.

…

He held her hand as they walked into her beach house, and she led him into the living room. "She's still asleep, so we can start breakfast now if you want." Peyton offered, sliding into Lucas' lap as he sat down. Her legs were splayed out sideways, just begging for him to touch them.

"I want to wait until she's awake, I want to have a family breakfast." Lucas replied, before placing his hand on her side, and the other around her back.

"So what do you want to do until then?" Peyton asked mischievously.

Lucas grinned.

"I can think of some things." He replied candidly, pulling her towards him. She was just as hungry for him as he was for her, and asserted her control over him as she kissed him, before sliding around and straddling him. Feeling her long legs around him made him start to harden immediately.

Their lips pressed against each other and he took her bottom lips in between his teeth, his tongue sliding across it and she moaned into his mouth, her fingers gripping at his shirt. "I don't deserve you, I don't deserve this." Lucas stated quietly as they pulled apart.

Her emerald eyes peered into his cerulean ones. "I don't care, I want you Lucas Scott." She replied and kissed him again.

His fingers found the bare patch of her stomach and lightly danced across the soft skin and she whimpered into his mouth, their tongues fighting for dominance.

His hands slid down to her bare legs, moving on their own accord and she pulled away for a second and Lucas' eyes widened, wondering if he'd done something wrong.

She smiled, her eyes dazzling and burning with barely restrained lust. "I love you Lucas Scott." she confessed, and he pulled her towards him again, his lips finding the crook of her neck.

"I love you too Peyton, more than you'll ever know." Lucas murmured into her neck as his lips claimed a specific spot on her neck, right above the right collarbone that he knew drove her crazy. Lightly suckling on the skin, his tongue drove her into near insanity.

They were about to continue until a little girl's cry caused the two to separate. "Is that?" Lucas spoke but was interrupted by Peyton's lips coming down onto his again.

"Yeah it is. C'mon, I'll take you to her room." Peyton whispered against his lips.

Lucas nodded and the two rose from the couch and she led them upstairs, to Sawyer's room. The room was almost as big as his room at his beach house and Lucas saw a crib in the center, where the crying was coming from.

"Go on." Peyton encouraged him.

He nodded numbly and walked forward over to the crib. He peered inside, and in it was a beautiful blonde child, with golden locks framing her tiny face. "Oh my God." Lucas whispered, and felt like he got punched in the stomach. Blue green eyes peered up at him, and the child, his child stopped crying. He watched as those blue green eyes spilled their tears and slid down her tiny snub nose, his nose and down her cheeks.

She had Peyton's lips, and Lucas could swear to God that Sawyer smiled through her still gumming teeth. A hollow laugh escaped his throat on its own volition.

This was the child, this cute perfect blend of him and Peyton was the child he had unknowingly discarded.

The child he had left behind.

He had let them fend for themselves, not knowing that this beautiful angel had been growing in Peyton's womb. Dear God, he was a monster.

"Da da." Sawyer squealed out.

"She's calling for you." Peyton whispered over to Lucas and he turned around, his face numb, tears spilling down his cheeks. "What's wrong?" Peyton asked.

"I… I abandoned her… and you too." Lucas replied, turning back to his beautiful child.

His golden haired angel raised her tiny, chubby arms at him and Lucas stifled a sob, before reaching out and tucking his hands under her armpits and lifting her out of her crib. Sawyer wrapped her arms around his neck, and placed a sloppy kiss on his cheek. "Da da." She repeated, placing her tiny hands on his cheeks.

Kissing her forehead softly, he watched as his tears drip dropped onto her forehead, dampening it. "I'm so sorry." he croaked out.

Sawyer looked over at her mother, than back to her father and giggled softly. His heart shattered into a thousand pieces. He could never replace his 26 month absence, and the 17 months of her life that he had missed. Holding her up with one arm, he couldn't help but let his fingers touch her delicate face. Her eyes crinkled in amusement and he passed her over to her mother.

"What have I done?" Lucas asked quietly to himself.

Peyton looked at him sadly, tears in her own eyes as she saw how seeing his daughter affected Lucas for the first time. "I'm such a dirtbag." He whispered, looking away from what should have been his family.

"Lucas you didn't know." Peyton stated, placing her hand on his smooth face.

"Doesn't matter. Doesn't make it right, what I've done to you, what I haven't done for her. I can never make that right again, I can never change that. Keith…" he stopped in mid-sentence, as a sob racked his body. "Uncle Keith and my mom, they… they raised me better than that. If they were alive, they'd be so ashamed… Two years I wasted, running away, smoking and drinking, screwing away someone else's life." He berated himself harshly.

"Lucas, you were grieving. Your parent's were murdered on the same day, and you couldn't deal. Who could have?" Peyton asked.

Lucas looked at her with more admiration than he could ever recall at that moment. "I'll never deserve you Peyton." he croaked out. "You deserve so much more than I can give you."

"Nothing in this world means anything if I don't have you to share it with me." Peyton assured him. "We've all done wrong, even from me to you, but we're human and we make mistakes. But this time, if you fall, I'll pick you up, and if I fall, I'll know you'll catch me." Peyton added, and stood next to him, her and on his arm, Sawyer in the other, who was giggling still at she looked at both her parents.

"Fu…" Sawyer said laughing.

"Fu?" Lucas repeated, squinting his eyes at her.

"She's saying she wants food." Peyton said, ushering them out of the room.

The blonde trio headed downstairs and Peyton cooked a simple breakfast for them. For Sawyer she made some oatmeal with a little bit of cinnamon mixed in. For he and Lucas she made scrambled eggs and ham. Bringing Lucas his plate, she poured him a cup of coffee and the look on his eyes damn near melted her into butter.

He had this awed look, as if it were the first time a woman had cooked for him and with Sawyer sitting in her high seat clapping happily, she understood what he was feeling. It probably had been the first time since his mother was alive that a woman cooked for him. They had talked a few times and from what she understood, he had been with a few women in Florida, but never anything serious and he only had one girl he'd been with for longer than a month and her name was Lisa, or Pocahontas as he called her and they had a casual no-strings attached relationship.

She showed up, they hooked up, hung out and left again.

Peyton didn't understand the mechanics of that kind of relationship. She just saw what it had done to Jaime and Brooke but Lucas did say she was an older divorcee so perhaps that's why she too hadn't committed to him.

Not that Peyton cared, seeing as how it worked for her benefit but seeing him in his chair looking at her like she was the most beautiful woman in the world made her happy beyond words.

"Thank you for this Peyt, I mean it, thanks." Lucas managed to utter out. He had offered to do the dishes and afterwards the three of them were laying on the couch watching cartoons for Sawyer's benefit and she fell asleep on his chest.

"I think she likes you." Peyton commented, smiling at Lucas.

"God she's beautiful, even more so than you." Lucas said grinning.

"Really, well how about we put her back into her bed and I'll see if I can disprove that theory." Peyton offered huskily, deliberately crossing her long legs so Lucas would get a good look.

Lucas swallowed whatever comeback was about to formulate in his head. "Let's see."

V

Nathan sat alone in the beach house utterly pissed. Lucas was supposed to have come and help him set everything for dinner and he wasn't here and wasn't answering his cell phone. He knew he was with Peyton and most likely the two had lost track of time, too busy screwing or whatever they wanted to do. Then again it would be the first time Lucas saw Sawyer so perhaps that's why he was tardy.

Sighing softly, he decided to stop fuming and walked over to the grill and threw two steaks onto the grill. Grabbing a beer from the cooler, he tossed one over to Dan, the only person who actually showed up to the dinner. "Lucas is probably busy with Peyton." Dan said calmly, gauging his son's reaction.

"Probably, it's not him I was waiting to see though." Nathan admitted quietly.

Knowing what his son meant, Dan looked at his son sullenly. "She'll be here if she really loves you."

Nathan nodded numbly and the father and son duo ate alone. Around nine, Dan headed off leaving Nathan alone in his thoughts and a bottle of Jack Daniel's. Half the bottle was gone by the time the doorbell rung. "Must be Luke." Nathan figured, rising up from the new black leather couch. Walking over to door, he swung it open.

A beautiful brunette with dark eyes was behind the door. "Hales…" Nathan gasped out seeing her again. She was in a tight, light pink dress that tastefully revealed her cleavage and showed a little bit of her legs. "Come in, nothing going on though. You're kind of late, almost three hours late, what took so long?" Nathan asked.

Haley's mouth was set in a firm line and her brows narrowed. "I didn't know what to wear." She replied softly.

"What do you mean?" Nathan asked timidly.

"I wanted to make a good impression on you, and I tried so many dresses, and did my hair so many different ways and I don't know time passed by. I'm sorry I freaked out and took so long and…"

Nathan interrupted her rambling with a kiss, pulling her flush against him. He was clad in a simple wife beater in shorts, having not expected anyone to show up. He could feel her bare skin against his, and surprise Haley in kissing her.

"Nathan?" Haley asked confused as she pulled away.

"Shut up and keep kissing me." Nathan ordered, claiming her lips again.

"So have I finally proven myself?" Haley asked.

"Not yet, but you're working on it." Nathan murmured, placing his hands on her thighs. She moaned under his touch, and his finger slid underneath her dress and up to her hip. "No panties? Really Hales?" he asked.

She smirked for a second, before gasping as he lifted her thighs and she instinctively wrapped them around his back. "Does this mean we're together again?" Haley asked, insecurity leaking into her voice.

"I don't know, does it matter?" Nathan asked, carrying her and pressing her back against a wall.

He kissed her before she could ask anything else and she relented, her body pliant against his, her nimble fingers reaching down and grabbing at his shorts, pulling them down.

"No boxers?" Haley asked.

Nathan smirked and slid into her hot, soaking sheath. Neither knew what would happen tomorrow.

Neither of them cared.

VI

The three of them laid in the same bed. Lucas had his arm wrapped around Peyton's back as she faced them with a sleeping Sawyer in between them. Emerald eyes locked into cerulean and Peyton smiled, having always fantasized about this moment. She pressed her lips against his softly, not wanting to wake up her daughter.

"This is the way it should of always been." Lucas pointed out softly, his eyes full of sorrow and lament.

"I know Luke. But if you want, this is the way it'll always be." Peyton replied.

He caressed the bare part of her back. They were fully clothed and hadn't been intimate, Lucas had been too focused on Sawyer for that.

"Do you think we can make it work this time?" Lucas asked doubtfully.

"Yeah, 'else you wouldn't be here in my bed. You plan on running again?" Peyton asked hesitantly.

"Never, you're my eternity." Lucas said shyly.

"It's not that simple. I'm not going to let you woo me with words this time Lucas Scott." Peyton said playfully.

"It is simple. The simplicity of eternity." Lucas whispered, placing a chaste kiss on her forehead.

"I'd like that." Peyton replied, "So would she?" she said, looking down at Sawyer.

"I love you."

"I love you too."

"I love you more."

"I love you infinity."

"Shut up and kiss me."

End of Chapter.

A/N: Sorry for the wait, can't really give an excuse either other than I'm deployed and the words just wouldn't flow right. Still doesn't but I wanted to update. Next time: What happens now between Nathan and Haley? Lucas, Sawyer, and Peyton? What about Brooke and Jaime? And where the hell are Jaime and Mouth? BTW, there is a one shot or a two piece fic on Jaime and Mouth's adventure I'll be doing soon.


	9. Epilogue

The Simplicity of Eternity

Epilogue

Three months had passed since that day. The day that Lucas had gotten to meet Sawyer Brooke Scott: his daughter, and that day he had become a father. He had given up smoking cigarettes and marijuana though the latter was easier since Jaime hadn't returned. Jaime hadn't called and deep down Lucas knew he wouldn't, he was hurt by Brooke's dismissal of him. He was probably burying himself in alcohol and women, knowing his best friend.

Mouth too hadn't called, and neither of them had logged onto their Myspace accounts or their FaceBook.

Lucas just preferred to think that they were alive and kicking. Between writing and hanging out with his daughter he was left with a lot of time to think. About what he was doing with his life and he was contempt, but there was one thing missing. There was a noticeable bulge on his pocket and it was the last thing he ne needed to do to feel complete.

He was going to ask Peyton to marry him.

He knew he was rushing things, they had just gotten back together three months ago but inside he felt it was right. It gnawed at him for a while and finally he decided to go through with it, and retrieved his mother's wedding ring, an 18 karat diamond ring that Keith had gotten for her.

He had almost come to a full circle.

This was all that was left.

For two years he toured through Florida and done a lot of things he had regretted, anything to bury the pain of not having Peyton and it wasn't until Jaime forced him to go to Tree Hill that Lucas realized how much he needed her in his life. After finding out he had a daughter, he knew he couldn't leave. It would have been hard for Peyton to chase him out of Tree Hill, but after finding out about Sawyer, Lucas knew he couldn't.

He had bought a beach house from Dan, well technically Jaime bought it and gave it to him. Nathan and Haley had moved out into a cozy house a few blocks away, their romance re-newed and unable to keep their hands off each other. He smiled at that, he knew the two of them deserved happiness and knowing that they had found there way back to each other gave him hope for those who didn't have that. For his friends who still didn't have that love, that too powerful feeling of having just one special in the world that you would go to any extremes for and having them return that feeling.

He especially felt bad for Skillz, he had essentially showed up and ruined any chance that Skillz might have had with Peyton. Skillz had taken care of Peyton and Sawyer in Lucas' unknowing absence, and then after realizing the inevitably of Lucas and Peyton had taken off to Duke, ready to claim the world for his own.

He hadn't seen him since and for that Lucas felt terrible, Skillz was a childhood friend, and closer to him than a lot of people in ways that Nathan or Jaime weren't. He hoped that he could see him and apologize, but then again he was happily in love with Peyton and he couldn't take that back. His love for her was immense, it spanned from one side of the universe to the other.

He loved her and craved her. It was a feeling beyond comprehension.

Beyond comparison.

"Hey babe." A voice whispered into his ears, jolting him out of his reverie. Peyton slid her arms around his neck and kissed his temple softly.

"You got to stop that?" Lucas warned, his blue eyes alit with arousal.

"Why would I do that?" Peyton murmured, sliding one of her hands casually down his torso and slowly slid around his jean clad manhood. "Naley's babysitting Sawyer." She teased.

"Dear God, I love you woman." Lucas replied.

"C'mon, hurry up, momma needs her baby daddy to handle his business." Peyton drawled out and Lucas stood up, looking at her seriously. "Okay the baby daddy part was a bit out of line." She amended seeing his face.

"Peyton I love you." Lucas stated, trying to regain some sense but it was hard as she stood in front of him in a tight, sexy jean skirt that flaunted her ridiculously long legs and a beater for a shirt, aroused nipples poking through.

"I love you too. " she said cautiously, gazing into his eyes to try to gauge what he was about to say.

"Being with you and Sawyer has made me the happiest man alive this last three months and I know it's kind of pre-mature…"

Lucas was interrupted by Peyton's shrill shriek. "Oh my God, you're proposing aren't you?"

"Peyton Elizabeth Sawyer…" Lucas said, getting down to one knee.

"Yes… God yes."

"Will you make me dinner?" Lucas asked, grinning.

"You asshole." She cried out, punching him in the arm.

Lucas pulled out his mother's ring.

"Will you marry me?" Lucas asked, his electric blue eyes twinkling.

"I said yes, you idiot." Peyton replied and Lucas slid the ring on her hand.

The moment was interrupted by a knock on the door. "Oh my God, who is it now?" Peyton asked annoyed, walking to the door.

Opening the door, she was greeted by the sight of tanned skin, spiky black hair and smoky green eyes. A mischievous grin on the man's face left her shocked. It was someone she hadn't seen in a while.

"Jaime!" she shrieked and threw her arms around him in a hug. Seeing someone next to him, she saw a shorter man with darker skin and a bald head. "Skillz!"

"Hey shorty." Skillz greeted, returning the hug.

"Where the hell have you two been?" Lucas demanded, rushing to the door, not knowing whether to hug or punch Jaime.

"Japan, mostly." Jaime answered.

"What the hell were you doing in Japan?" Lucas asked curiously.

"Long story." Skillz replied. "Pretty much, he and Mouth kidnapped me, through me on a plane there and we've been there since. Mouth's still over there actually with this cute little Japanese girl named Mizuki. I love Japan." Skillz proclaimed.

Jaime noticed the ring on Peyton's finger. "It's about time you ugly son' bitch." Jaime called out and Lucas punched him in the stomach softly before hugging him.

"Come in." Peyton said, pulling them in.

"We actually can't stay too long, we're catching another flight actually back to Japan. He-who-shall-remain-high over here wanted to see Brooke, so we stopped by New York and caught a flight over here to say goodbye for a little bit." Skillz said pointedly.

"Are you high right now?" Peyton asked.

Jaime gave a slow nod of his head. "I've never done drugs." He said, his grin widening. "Yes, I have and yes I am." He whispered and Peyton giggled.

"You're an idiot." Peyton said chastising him.

"Oh yeah, that reminds me, here's the LP I owe you. Listen to it and hit me up." Jaime replied.

"That's next to impossible." Lucas said derisively. Jaime let out a defensive scowl. "How'd the talk with Brooke go?" Lucas asked, changing the subject.

"Well I'm higher now than I was then." Jaime offered as a response.

"So not of the goodness?" Peyton asked.

Jaime let out a laugh. "No, but I got the closure I needed. I'm moving on, you know. So, when y'all getting married?" he asked lazily.

"Well I just proposed before y'all knocked." Lucas admitted.

Jaime had the decency to look sheepish. "So y'all was about to have y'all post-proposal fuck? Sorry for cock-blocking!" Jaime replied.

Peyton blushed. "You're too much."

"That's what she said." Jaime responded sarcastically.

"Who Brooke?" Skillz asked.

"Low blow… but yes, at one point those were her words." Jaime bounced back with a grimace.

"We should go get something to eat?" Peyton offered.

"No can do, I'm here to say good-bye and all. Gotta get back to Japan, I lost a race and blew out my motor on the 'Stang." Jaime replied.

"Really?"

"Yeah, they got some crazy shit over there called touge racing where they race down mountains as fast as they can. I beat a few guys but ended up losing to a guy in a Toyota Corolla." Jaime admitted painfully.

"What, you lost to a Corolla?" Lucas asked outraged.

"Shut up. That kid was a monster."

"You suck…"

"Teme…" Jaime growled out in Japanese, unknowingly. "Anyway, I just got a new car waiting for me to hook it up and I'll challenge that idiot soon enough." Jaime replied.

"You still lost to a Corolla." Peyton pointed out.

"A nineteen eighty six Corolla." Skillz felt the need to add.

Jaime hung down his head in shame. "Whatever, anyway here's my number and my Skype screen name. Let me know the dates for the wedding old man." Jaime said, handing him a small piece of paper.

"I'm sorry you and Brooke didn't work out." Peyton called out.

"Me too." Jaime stated.

"By the way Jaime, your dad called while you were away." Lucas said and Jaime's half closed eyes went wide.

There was a pregnant pause. "Fuck him." Throwing the deuces to the blonde couple, he and Skillz began to walk away after one last hug. "Ja Ne! That's Japanese for see you later Leyton." Jaime called out and they headed out of the door.

"Use a rubba." Skillz shouted.

"I can't believe he was here." Peyton said after a moment of silence.

"I can't believe they're friends after that fight." Lucas replied softly.

"So how about that post-proposal fuck?" Peyton whispered huskily in his ear.

Lucas winced and the two of them hurried up to their bedroom.

***II***

Nathan and Haley laid in bed together, their naked bodied giving and feeding each other warmth that they desperately needed. "Do you think we can last?" Haley asked.

Nathan smirked against the side of her neck and sent shivers down her spine. "We're inevitable." Nathan stated, kissing her collarbone. "We gravitate around each other and no matter what we do we just can't help but orbit around each other. We were made to be together." Nathan stated poetically, shifting his leg so she straddled him.

"I love you." Haley stated simply. There was a sparkle to her eyes that he hadn't seen in such a long time. He loved that look.

"I love you Haley James." Nathan replied, and groaned as Haley trailed her breasts down to her his stomach. Her hard nipples grazed across his chiseled stomach, arousing him some more as she took him into her mouth.

Nathan shivered, and bucked underneath the warm sensation of Haley's warmth sliding up and down the length of him.

She continued until there was an immense pressure building up in his groin that couldn't be ignored and he attempted to warn her but all that came out of his lips was a muffled growl as he released. Catching his breath as she slid back up his body, he grabbed her by the waist and flipped her onto her back, before sliding down the length of her body.

Lips hovering over her wet, velvety warmth, he replied, "Your turn."

Haley screamed.

She bucked and thrashed, grinded and writhed as Nathan had his way with her.

"I want this forever."

"So do I Hales. Forever and beyond that."

***III***

Brooke wiped the tears from her eyes.

That _bastard_.

How dare he just show up here and force her to feel, and then walk away? Internally she knew it was her fault, she had let him that night at TRIC, petulantly so. He had made her feel naked, disrobed her feelings until she was bare to him, tore her defensive walls asunder and got through. That arrogant son of a _bitch_. That handsome, hot, irresistible, conceited, under-achieving stoner .

She literally wanted to throw the things in her office around in a fit of rage.

He had showed up fresh from Japan, wormed his way into her office. He said things she hadn't wanted to hear, because they were true, painfully so. After having her whole beliefs shattered around her, he had walked away, like she had done to him and promised never to return to her, never to chase her.

"_You're still in love with Lucas aren't you?"_

"_Him leaving hurt you just as much as Peyton. Took me a minute to realize that, you never truly got over Luke. You might hid it from Peyton and him but he has his own little spot on your pedestal, and no matter how many guys you fuck, how many kisses you steal, how many drinks you consume has changed that. In a way, you used me."_

"_I was everything opposite of Lucas, I was the dark to his light and you craved me for it. Desired that plunge into the dark void that I am, because I wasn't him. You liked me of course, wanted me, but only because of the fact that I represent all the darkness inside of you. You realized it of course that night, that I cared for you, that I was becoming something other than what you craved, something good, something right."_

"_You ruined that, you have to live with it."_

"_You ruined what we could have had. You realize it now of course, that blank look in your expression tells me as much, now live with it. It took me forever to understand this, I had to go to Japan, and live on the tight rope between life and death, get uncontrollably high, and fuck enough Japanese girls to get to that point. I wallowed in self-pity like some school boy, do you understand that?"_

"_You made me feel."_

"_You gave me hope."_

"_Good luck in life Brooke, and do yourself a favor: Get over Lucas. He was never going to be yours, him and Peyton, they are truth, a fact, a variable that doesn't make sense but is."_

Brooke sobbed uncontrollably with nothing to console her, her lips still damp from his goodbye kiss.

***IV***

6 Months Later

December 25, 2007

Luquillo, PR

Peyton was happier than she could ever remember. She was now Peyton Elizabeth Scott, having married Lucas yesterday in Tree Hill in front of all her friends. She expected the wedding to be awkward, with the collective amount of her friends there and all the drama that had happened but there wasn't. Jaime and Brooke had been civil to each other, she had met Mouth's wife Mizuki McFadden, a slender Japanese girl, with jet black hair and the cutest accent ever.

Skillz had been cordial to Lucas, and it seemed as if their friendship was on the mend after all their differences.

It had been a great day.

It was mildly amusing watching Jaime and Brooke steal glances at each other and dance their way around each other, but Peyton hoped that maybe they could reconcile, the brief relationship they had had been good for both of them.

She could only hope.

But not even her friends' awkwardness around each other put a damper on that day. It was the second happiest day of her life, coming a close second to Sawyer's birth. They had a simple forest wedding and had taken off as soon as possible for the two week honeymoon, and left Sawyer in Jaime's care back at Tree Hill.

He had promised to stay sober for the sake of Lucas and Peyton's post-wedding bonanza as he put it.

Looking at her husband through her emerald eyes, she couldn't help but hunger for him as the two laid out on the beach, the weather a surprising eighty degrees in December as water tickled at their toes. He looked so calm, so happy. His face clean shaven and blonde hair in unruly spikes, he was the epitome of hot to her. She didn't desire another man, she couldn't.

Looking into his sunlit blue eyes she leaned over and gave him a chaste kiss on the lips. He pulled her closer and deepened the kiss, pressing his firm body against her. She loved the feel of his tender leanness, an almost contradictory statement as it was but Lucas himself defied the laws of conventionalism.

"I love you, you know that?" Lucas proclaimed, giving her a tender kiss to the hollow of her throat.

"I hope so, we're married. You're stuck, till death do us part and all." Peyton drawled out.

"Stuck, I like that idea." Lucas said, waggling his eyebrows.

"I love you Lucas Scott, then, now, and forever." Peyton whispered, a small breeze blowing against her face like the gentle caress of a lover.

"I love you Peyton Scott, more than you'll ever allow." Lucas murmured.

"That doesn't make sense." Peyton said calling him out.

"It does."

"Shut up, let's go to our rooms and let the bonanza begin." She exclaimed suddenly.

"It began last night." Lucas complained.

"Those don't count, you could of put up a better performance." Peyton replied.

"Oh really, I guess I'll have to make it up to you." Lucas replied.

"We have all the time in the world." Peyton teased.

"And it still wouldn't be enough."

This was love.

This was forever.

This was simple.

This was eternal.

Fin

AN: Yay, a happy ending for most of the characters here. Obviously it can end with them all happy otherwise no possibility for a sequel. There would be no point. So sorry if it sounds rushed but after the long ass chapters getting here, I wanted something short, sweet, and simple to play off the title. What's next for Leyton? Or Naley? What happened in Japan with Skillz, Jaime, and Mouth. How did Mouth meet Mizuki, or what did Jaime say to Brooke in New York and how did she reply. I purposely only gave you a teaser of that scene to leave it to be interpreted however you chose to. Hopefully soon we'll get the first sequel- Nights on Mount Akina and after that perhaps a Naley driven fic. I don't know what the future holds, but I got a lonnnnnnnnnnnnggggggg time to find out. Thanks for those who stuck with me from beginning to end.


End file.
